Kurdish Gains In Syria Rattle Turkey

KURDISH GAINS IN SYRIA RATTLE TURKEY
by Henry Rigdwell

August 06, 2012

CEYLANPINAR, Turkey – Kurds in the north of Syria say they have taken
control of most of the region’s major towns and cities from government
forces. Turkey fears the twin threats of the Syrian civil conflict
spilling over the frontier along with a potential escalation of its
internal war against Kurdish separatists.

Climbing up to his fourth-floor balcony, Mehmet Bervan, a Kurd from
Ceylanpinar in southeast Turkey, has a frontline view of the conflict
playing out in Syria. His house lies close enough to the border fence
to shout at family members on the other side.

Bervan hoped this large villa would provide somewhere to live out a
peaceful retirement. Week by week, he has watched the Syrian uprising
descend into civil war.

“Often we would see explosions, bombs going off, smoke rising into
the air. It was very scary for us here, terrible,” he said.

Bervan echoes the feelings of Kurds across the Middle East.

“Of course people would like to live together. These fences were not
here before. We were all one family. Then they put up the fence and
it separated us all… some families are divided, we have uncles over
there, brothers over there on the Syrian side,” he said.

The Syrian side of this town, known as Serekanye in Kurdish or Ras
al-Ayn in Arabic, is now under the full control of Kurdish forces.

With government forces stretched as they fight the Free Syria Army
rebels for control of the Syrian heartlands around Aleppo and Damascus,
the Kurds now control vast swathes of the northeast adjacent to Turkey.

Turkey’s fear is that the Kurds in Syria will give sanctuary to
Kurdish separatist fighters, known as the PKK.

In recent days Turkey has launched assaults on PKK strongholds,
killing at least 11 militants and six soldiers. Tanks and heavy
weapons also have been deployed along the border in the Kurdish region.

Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan has warned Turkey will strike
PKK fighters in Syria.

“While the Assad regime commits cruel massacres in Syria, activities
in northern Syria should be watched carefully,” he said. “We can
never overlook such developments threatening our security.”

While Syrian Kurds have not fully joined the uprising, Kurdish
political factions recently agreed to unite. Hafiz Abdurahman is a
Syrian Kurdish human rights activist who fled to Turkey last year. He
says Turkish fears are misplaced.

“Kurds are not demanding their own state in Syria, they want a
free Syria, and for a free Kurdish people to have their own rights
after being under this totalitarian regime for such a long time,”
said Abdurahman.

In Syria, the Kurds are celebrating newfound freedoms. For Turkey,
the Syrian crisis brings new complexities to a long-standing conflict.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress