Syria's forgotten Kurds

Dr. Sherkoh Abbas, leader of the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria, interviewed by Michael J. Totten:

We’ve been ignored by the Western media, by the Middle Eastern media, and by the international community altogether. Maybe it’s because we don’t hijack planes, kidnap and kill people, or blow-up any buildings. The wheels that make the noise get the grease, and we haven’t made any noise until recently, beginning with a major uprising in 2004. Today the Kurdish street will not accept anything less than federation or at least a Kurdish Federal Region.

The Kurds of Syria are primarily poor because of the Arabization policies that were implemented during the Baath Party’s time. Even though oil and gas come from the Kurdistan region, less than one percent is invested there. Most Kurds are educated, but we have been deprived of basic human and national rights....

The Free Syrian Army is made up of defectors from the regular Syrian army who grew up with the doctrine of the Arab Socialist Baath Party. It is also influenced in part by the Muslim Brotherhood. This means it is not established with principles ​​of democracy and freedom. It is therefore uninterested in helping the Kurds in Syria or in promoting our rights due to their values. The Free Syrian Army’s views on the Kurdish issue in Syria is no different from that of the regular army. In the future it will be another obstacle to freedom and democracy in the region....

I have said this many times: Israelis never killed or slaughtered Syrian people the way the current regime is doing. We have no issues with the Israelis. We want to solve our problems peacefully through dialogue and negotiations. Israelis, like Kurds, are targeted for elimination by the tyrannical regimes in the Middle East, so we are natural allies.

Worth reading in full.

Comments

[Recruiting Animal]

I don't know about the Kurds in Syria but the Kurds in Iraq are known for honour killings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/world/middleeast/21honor.html?pagewanted=all

We tend to be very well disposed toward them because they were happy to be liberated from Saddam and the reports I heard said that they had set up a decent government in their territory.

And yet whenever this practice is mentioned they are too.

[Mick H]

Well yes, Kurds do seem to feature with regrettable frequency in reports of honour killings, but that surely shouldn't reflect on our attitude to their political aspirations.