Member of the Executive Board of Democratic Union Party (PYD) Bavê Tirej said self-governance, cultural autonomy and constitutional safeguards are the only way to solve the Kurdish problem in Syria.
While the pressure on the Kurds in Syria increases every day the unsolved Kurdish problem remains at top of the country’s agenda where the Kurds have been subjected to assimilation and denial policies since the Baath party came to power in 1963.
While during the father Hafiz Esad era more moderate policies towards the Kurds were followed in Syria in the son Beshar Esad era Kurds were subjected to en mess detentions and massacres in cities like Qamishlo. On one hand, Turkey is increasing its pressure on the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) on the other hand, Syrian authorities are increasing the pressure on the Kurdish political movement PYD. A member of the executive board of PYD Bave Tirej spoke to ANF and explained their solution project.
Pressure started after Treaty of Adana
Bave Tirej stated that Kurdish national independent movement in Syria started following the suppression from the Baath regime. “Although there have been Kurdish organisations in Syria since 1957 the pressure focuses on PYD which was established in 2003. Today there are hundreds of Kurds detained, convicted and kept in custody in intelligence interrogation centres and prisons. People are arrested during house raids in the middle of the night and tortured.” added Tirej.
Bave Tirej also stated that the pressure on PYD and the Kurds in Syria started after the Adana Security and Intelligence Sharing Treaty of 1998.
Tirej further said that while there is no organic links between the PYD and the PKK they follow the ideology and PYD is highly inspired by the philosophy and the ideology of Abdullah Ocalan.
Answering the question whether there will be national conference on South West Kurdistan Tirej said “There are almost 20 Kurdish parties in South West Kurdistan. We tried hard to establish a common Kurdish front and coordination after the Serhildan [Kurdish word for Intifada] of 2004 however all of our attempts have failed. But we hope that the Kurdish National Conference planned to be held in South Kurdistan helps us to establish our national unity.”
Syrian prisons are full of Kurds
Underlining the fact that there are many Kurds in the Syrian prisons Tirej added: “Baath regime is issuing new decrees in order to displace the Kurds and convict the Kurds to poverty. The number of the Kurdish youth who are dying under suspicious circumstances while doing their compulsory military service is increasing day by day. Esad would not take part in n anti-Kurdish front out of Syria. They tried this in 1966 against Barzani Movement of the time and they will not repeat it. Moreover, Syria has its own problems to deal with. Palestine, Lebanon, internal problems what so ever. Under these circumstances it is unlikely for Syria to be part of a genocide against the Kurds out of Syria, however, it is implementing all its power against the Kurds within Syria which amounts genocide.”
Three prerequisites for the solution
Bave Tirej further stated that once the Kurdish problem in Turkey is solved than the problems in other part of Kurdistan will be easily solved.
Tirej summarised the demands of the Kurds in Syria under three headlines and said: “First self-governance and autonomy for the local administrations, second cultural autonomy and third constitutional safeguards. Kurds have no other demands than these three. Although there is a law on local administrations in force the Baath regime hinders it. All the people in Syria are considered to be ethnic Arabs. Current regime while not implementing its own laws and constitutions is ruling the country in an arbitrary way based on oligarchy. They should give it up and start a democratic system in the country. Otherwise, the problem will deepen.”
ANF /
ANF NEWS AGENCY
