Greetings.
I had written previously asking for consideration of recognition by the U.S. of the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria, also known as Rojava. I believe recognition by the U.S. and possibly some E.U. states can help assure the safety of the people in the area. But, regardless, the aggression by Turkey should not be swept under the rug.
The people in Rojava are celebrating their 10 year anniversary of what they are calling the revolution this year on July 19.
Rojava has been self-administered since 2012, when there was an agreement that led to the withdrawal of Assad's armies from the area, and Turkey has recently made moves of aggression against Rojava. The type of aggressive and oppressive behavior that we condemn when it is Russia should not be tolerated when a NATO country, a presumptive ally perpetrates it.
Kurdistanmonitor.org was keeping track of recent Turkish army activities in N.E. Syria after the Turkist airforce bombarded a health clininc in Tal Rifaat, on June 1, and shelled several villages around Tal Abyad/Gire Spi and Ain Issa with more than 150 grad missiles, shelled villages in Kobane, shelled several villages on teh outskirts of Manbij, and in Shehba region and Tal Rifaat .
Since June 4 there have been reports of multiple incidences of shelling by the Turkish army of the countryside of Afrin, including heavy bombardments of Afrin on June 6, shelling the Shehba countryside and the Shehba dam, (1) shelling of several villages in the Manbij, bombardment of a mosque of a village near Manbij, the airstrike by two ballistic missiles on Manbij on the 8th of June, airstrike on a vegetable market in Qamishlo, the shelling of several villages in the Ain Issa countryside, and an attack on a civlians there, the shelling of several villages near Tal Tamir, (2) and in addition, it has recently been revealed that Turkish intelligence M.I.T. units and operatives are involved in targeted assassinations, counterfeiting (including U.S. currency), bombing attacks, and smuggling in North-East syria.
The M.I.T. as been recruiting current and former members of the Islamic State (ISIS) according to information obtained by
Nuce Ciwan (3) from captured MIT-ISIS members.
A few things to note:
It should be remembered that the militias in Rojava (or the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria) fought the Islamic State (ISIS) eye to eye using direct engagement and sniper tactics, largely by all female militia units, rather than relying on the bombing of ISIS-held areas, which after all generally result in civilian casualties.
The Obama administration had an alliance with Rojava which was abandoned by the successor administration of Donald Trump and has not been restored (yet). ISIS remains a thread in the region and the Turkish government as done little to combat ISIS in the last 45 years.
In the past couple weeks there has been an escalation in the ongoing tensions between the YPG and YPJ Militias of Rojava and the Turkish army.
In addition to recruiting ISIS members and ex-members, the turkish intelligence service MIT has been accused of facilitating counterfeiting of united states currency, directing assasinations against prominent citizens in the Autonomous Areas, and carrying out sabotage against the villages in the autoomous areas and surrveilance of the YPG and YGJ Militias.
The locals in Rojava fear another direct attack by Turkey.
Turkey joined NATO in 1952 and has since benefited from substantial military assistance from the member states of NATO, but has also been agressive in it's dealings with neighbors.
Turkey uses cluster bombs in their bombings of Rojava. Cluster bombs are of course banned by the U.N. although Turkey did not vote in favor of the ban.
Clearly, if are against the mistreatment and targeting of civilians by Russia in the Ukraine, we should not be turning a blind eye to the same type of activity
Turkey's army and intelligence services, even if Turkey is a N.A.T.O.member.
Some background, briefly:
"On 18 April, Erdoğan launched an air and ground offensive against Kurdish forces and civilians in Iraq. Since then, and after months of an ongoing low-intensity war, the Turkish army has also intensified shelling of civilian areas across northern and eastern Syria, where the people soon hope to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the so-called ‘Rojava Revolution’."
(this from Progressive International)
And this, the Former Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Nadine Maenza spoke to Rudaw on Wednesday about her recent trip to northeast Syria (Rojava) (4) on the nature of Rojava or the current situation if you prefer.
3- https://www.nuceciwan107.
Thanks very much.
It was nice seeing you at the Will 0' the Wisp Farm yesterday.
M xxxxxxx
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