Turkish-backed fighters in the rebel Syrian National Army suffered a number of casualties in the northeast Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn on Tuesday, where a car bomb was detonated in a marketplace. At least 17 people were killed and 20 wounded, many of them from the rebel group.
There was no claim of responsibility, but observers are expecting that this was another strike by Kurdish people resisting the Turkish-led invasion of Kurdish territory. In recent weeks, car bombings have become increasingly frequent in the area.
Turkish officials have been quick to blame specific Kurdish factions, particularly the YPG/PKK, for these attacks, and are trying to present them as vindication for long-standing claims that the Kurdish groups are effectively terrorists.
And yet the YPG was not using car bombs generally, or indeed at all, before Turkey started invading Kurdish towns and cities, an offensive that was in no small measure about Turkey’s government’s very real problems with the Kurds.
Desperation in the face of a foreign invasion has put the Kurdish groups in a position all-too-common with people living under occupation, adopting terrorist tactics to resist the enemy forces.
They ARE terrorist and bandits. They have been using terrorist tactics all along, often in cooperation with ISIS. Yet none of this had happened had they let go of their opportunistic greed of things that don’t belong to them and called for Syrian SAA and Russian protection from the start.
I doubt the Kurds have worked with ISIS often.
What bad propaganda. Kurds are fighting ISIL every day. They risk their lives. There is no cooperation with ISIL, kurds are not islamist turkey. Ask your Masters putin and erdogan where the terrorists are.
Your SAA and Russians are licking Erdogans boots boots right now for a few dollars. The kurds are the only people with honor there, while you people cant wait to be f*** by the next jihadi.
Brainwashed moron.
The Syrians were/are fighting ISIL every day too. Why aren’t they our darlings in the fight against TERRORISM.
Assads army is protecting his family and alawite regions. The regime had no interest in fighting jihadis. Just look at idlib, turkeys jihadis are still there with putin and assads blessing. Thats why
The only reason the Israel-firsters hate Erdogan is because he had enough of Israel’s ruthless subjugation of the Palestinians and he has called them out on it.
Yes, they’re terrorists and bandits, Nikki, but they’ve never cooperated with ISIS .. They simply adopted some of ISIS terrorism. None of this would’ve happened had they let go of their opportunistic greed of lands that don’t belong to them and called for Syrian SAA and Russian protection from the start.
Since they hadn’t done so, these Syrian Kurds are now facing the consequences of their insatiable greed. Whatever gains they had made earlier are now gone, and they have no other option but to leave the northern part of Syria and live in the areas Syrian President Bashar Assad had offered them.
The Kurds were wrong to trust America. But Putin is equally wrong to trust Erdogan, a longtime ISIS supporter using American trained terrorists to invade Syrian sovereign territory. And autonomy isn’t opportunistic greed. It’s a god given right. Just because the Kurds trusted the wrong people with protecting that right doesn’t make them wrong to seek it.
Americas favorite jihadi is killing people while erdogan and trumps son in law are making “back door diplomacy”.
Funny how when someone uses these tactics on us or our friends, they’re ‘terrorists’, but when people we like use them they’re ‘resisting occupation’ or some such double-speak.
Also “double speak” is when those we don’t like are specifically named, like “Putin” or “Erdogan” instead of referring to them as Russia or Turkey, but when they are our friends, it’s The Kurds, not whoever is the leader of the Kurds.
By refusing to get drawn into yet another idiotic, centuries old, blood-letting, the Syrian, Russians, Turks and Kurds will have to sort this out, on their own, without—- the USA.
What a spin! This is not a “Kurdish people” reaction, but YPG which is nothing mire then PKK. And while at it — ask yourself a question: why is US supporting PKK in Iraq? Because PKK in Turkey is listed as terrorist organization, we pretend it is OK to arm and support PKK in Iraq. But it resulted in traditional Kurdish Peshmerga being marginalized, as they refused to become another Israel, and moved not a finger when Iraqi government smashed PKK in Kirkuk and Sinjar — places US literally gifted to PKK! Now, YPG has decided to stick with US — while abandoning their town of Kobane.
It is in Kobane that Kurds set up their quasi autonomy, but it is no linger loyal to YPG.
Kurds are playing dirty game. They are NOT in a despairing position facing occupation. They are just playing games not wanting to return under Syrian sovereignty. They cannot claim that they have been oppressed minority. In fact, most Kurds reside throughout Syria, and not in Kurd majority Kobane region.
Car bombing is very much the tool of PKK.
Kurds are perennial victims to their leadership habit of scrounging money and arms from whatever powers are in need of stirring up the trouble. If chains needed jerking in disobedient Turkey — Kurds are ready. They did it in Iraq, until recently. Now in Syria.
The problem they are facing now is the following. US is keeping YPG fighters in areas where there is practically no Kurdish population. Arab population there does not want them — but any rebellion will be labelled ISIS.
And if YPG refuses to stick with the deal — nobody will help them. Damascus did everything it could to keep Turkish pursuit of YPG to minimum, engaged Russia to come up with a defined mission, protection if Kurdish cities from Turkey by Syrian Army and Russian police.
Now, YPG is placing itself outside the deal — which makes me wonder if this faction will maintain political support. Remains to be seen.
But Turkey can resume operations, until AGAIN US gets in the way, and will have to withdraw. YPG is not numerically strong now that border is controlled, and PKK from Turkey cannot send new units.
The place in question where bombing occurred is MAJORITY ARAB town. This is not reaction by occupied Kurdish populace. It is a provocation putting all on notice, Syria, Turkey and Russia — Kurds have US support and US will whitewash and justify this brazen act of terror. And judging from this text — Kurds have the right kind of support.
This is no different than the Partisans in Warsaw, or the Sadrists in Iraq, or Hamas in Gaza. Desperate times….
Gaza is not occupied. And if Gazans stopped trying to murder Israelis, no Gazan would be at any risk. Indeed, if they truly stopped their dream of eradicating the Jewish State and actually accepted it in peace, they would be prospering and living decent lives — just like Israeli Palestinians do.
Putting them on the list with Warsaw partisans who were facing genocide and who had no other option available is very misplaced and a bit disgusting.