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| File photo of Erdogan and Barzani, who meet again tomorrow in Diyarbakir |
Masoud Barzani,
uncontested leader of more than 25 million Kurds living in parts
of Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq, has given a sharp kick in the teeth to Bashar
al-Assad and the Syrian Kurds’ Democratic Union Party (PYD).
The PYD, which
is affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
this week declared a transitional administration in
northeastern parts of Syria bordering Turkey.
Barzani, president of
the Iraqi Kurdistan region, accused the PYD in Syria of
“autocracy,” rejecting its unilateral declaration of independence in Syria’s
Kurdish northeast.
He said the PYD was
missing “a golden opportunity” by trying to hurriedly seize unilateral control
of the Syrian Kurdish areas, or Rojava.
“This is autocracy and
marginalization of the other Kurdish parties in Rojava.” Barzani said in
a statement. “We only support steps that have the consensus of all Kurdish
parties in Rojava,” he added. “We refuse unilateral actions.”
“The PYD claims to have
made a revolution in Rojava. But may I ask whom is this revolution targeted at?
The only thing [the PYD] does is administer areas handed over to it by the
[Assad] regime,” Barzani said in his written statement.
Barzani warned that the
PYD was driving Syrian Kurds down a dead-end.
“There is serious
concern this golden opportunity will be missed because the (Damascus) regime
has not recognized Kurdish rights. At the same time, the Syrian opposition
considers the PYD as an offshoot of the regime,” said Barzani. “This poses a
serious danger for the future of our people.”
Barzani, who brokered a
July 2012 deal in Erbil to forge a united stance among all Kurdish parties,
called on the PYD and all other Kurdish groups to return to the terms of that
accord.
“Despite our
reservations about the PYD’s behavior and actions, we are happy to return to
consensus, because autocracy will neither benefit the PYD nor the Kurdish
people,” Barzani said.
“The PYD benefited from
the agreement, but it did not commit to it. It suppressed other political
parties at gunpoint and secretly sided with Assad’s regime to make itself a
solo de facto military force on the ground,” Barzani said without mincing his
words.
“I advise all Kurdish
parties in Rojava to promote the interests of the Kurdish people and return to
the principles of the Erbil agreement, because this is the best option to
strengthen the Kurdish position in Syria,” Barzani said. “We will assist you to
the best of our ability.”
The Kurdish president
also accused the PYD of fighting a war that does not serve Kurdish interests,
saying the PYD’s clashes with Qaeda-affiliated jihadists since last summer have
forced tens of thousands of Kurds to flee Rojava.
The PYD’s armed wing,
the People’s Protection Units (YPG), also clashed in late March with other
Kurdish forces in northeast Syria and in the city of Amuda, where local residents
protested against the arrest of three Kurdish activists by the PYD.
“It was decided Kurds
would not get involved in the internal Syrian war, but the PYD got our people
in a war that is not in their interest,” Barzani said.
Barzani’s Iraqi
Kurdistan regional administration denied PYD leader Saleh Muslim entrance to
its territory last week, which was interpreted as a sign of the disagreements
between the PYD and the KRG. The Syrian Kurdish leader says he had to wait five
days before ultimately being told he would not be allowed into Iraqi Kurdistan.
Barzani also denounced
the PYD for banning the Kurdistan flag in Rojava.
Diyarbakir summit
The Iraqi Kurdish
leader is set for an important visit to Diyarbakir tomorrow, Saturday,
where he will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Selin Caglayan, writing today for Rudaw, Kurdistan’s English-language newspaper, notes the meeting comes
when Erbil’s differences with the PYD are escalating and Ankara’s peacemaking
with the PKK is on the rocks.
The weekend summit will
focus on bilateral ties, Ankara’s recently improving relations with Baghdad,
developments in Syria and the government’s peace process with the PKK, the
premier’s aide and foreign ministry sources in Ankara told Rudaw.
Barzani’s visit “is a
message both for the PYD and PKK,” said Mehmet Ozcan, an academic and director
of the Ankara Strategy Institute. “’You are not the only Kurds in the region’
is the message,” he told Rudaw.
”In Syria the PYD is
bullying the other Kurdish parties and trying to be the sole representative of
the Syrian Kurds, as the PKK once did in Turkey,” Ozcan said. “On the
other hand, the PKK is creating problems by blocking the peace process and
putting pressure on the public before the local elections” in March, he added.
Kurdish author and
commentator Irfan Aktan agreed that developments in Syria, where the PYD runs
its government from the city of Qamishli with strong support from the PKK in
Diyarbakir, were driving Ankara and Erbil ever closer. “This alliance
would weaken the Diyarbakir-Qamishli axis, and this makes many Kurds uneasy,”
he said.
According to the
Yeni Safak daily, which is close to Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party
(AKP), Barzani will meet with key Kurdish figures in Diyarbakir to deliver this
message: “The armed struggle is over; now it is time for political struggle for
all the Kurds.”
It expects Barzani to
propose mediating between Ankara and PKK headquarters in the Kurdistan Region’s
Qandil Mountain to restart a stalled peace process.
While Ankara’s ties
with Baghdad are on the mend, its relations with Erbil have been hitting new
highs. Turkey is Erbil’s largest trade partner, and the two are involved in
multi-billion dollar pipeline deals to get the Kurdistan Region’s rich energy
reserves to markets in Turkey and beyond.
Barzani reportedly
visited Diyarbakir in 1996 and stayed one night. But this will be his first
visit as president.
He arrives in Turkey
with beloved Kurdish singer Shirwan Perwer, who has been in exile for 37
years. Erdogan announced that Perwer would sing a duet in Diyarbakir with
legendary Kurdish singer Ibrahim Tatlises.
