News compilation by New Cold War.org, May 9, 2016
Introduction by New Cold War.org editors: Due to the ongoing importance and urgency of the subject of Kurdish self-determination, we are publishing several compilations of news articles and analysis in the coming days on the history and current situation of the Kurdish people in the Middle East. We are specifically selecting material which explains the role of the Russia, and the Soviet Union before that, in providing diplomatic and other support to the Kurdish cause.
There is a need for greater awareness of the Kurdish cause among those opposing NATO’s military threats against Russia and eastern Europe. This is evidenced by the views of many opponents of NATO’s military ambitions who simultaneously oppose Kurdish self-determination, specifically its expression in the northern region of Syria.
Most leftists and antiwar activists in the West are writing and publishing little or nothing on Turkey’s bloody war against the Kurds in the east of that country. They are deeply remiss in failing to build or join protests against Turkey’s grisly war.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister: Syria’s Kurds should be fully part of peace negotiations for Syria
‘All population groups should enjoy equal rights’ says Mikhail Bogdanov, who also criticizes international human rights groups for failing to condemn Turkey’s war against its Kurdish population.
MOSCOW–Self-determination of Kurds is possible only in the framework of the new Syrian constitution, Russian presidential envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS on Friday.
“The self-determination of Kurds should be outlined in the framework of new Syrian constitution, and it should be coordinated with other participants in the negotiations process,” Bogdanov said adding that “such issues should be resolved on the basis of consensus.”
Bogdanov noted that the decision to declare a federal region in Syria’s north was met negatively by participants in inter-Syrian talks in Geneva – both government and opposition. “This decision was beyond the framework of the negotiations process,” he noted.
Moscow hopes Kurds will join Geneva intra-Syrian talks
According to the diplomat, Moscow hopes that in the light of the formation of the regional federal administration in northern Syria by the Kurds, UN Secretary General’s special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will invite them to take part in the Geneva talks. “We have said time and again that Kurds should be invited to the talks, Staffan de Mistura must do that,” he said.
“The Kurds should have been involved in the talks from the very beginning, the issues [of federalization – TASS] should have been discussed with other participants in the talks who represent both the government and the opposition,” he added.
“They need to discuss all these issues within the framework of the political process and develop a new Constitution, which could suggest a particular form of government. However, all this should be the product of an inclusive political dialogue with the participation of absolutely all groups of the Syrian society. All population groups should enjoy equal rights,” Bogdanov said.
Earlier reports said that more than 30 political parties that gathered for the congress in Rumeilan, a city in Syria’s Al-Hasakah province, proclaimed the creation of a regional federal administration in northern Syria on Thursday. The forum held under the motto “Democratic federal Syria – guarantee of co-residence and brotherhood of peoples” brought together 200 delegates. They represent the Kurds, the Arabs, the Assyrians, the Turkmens, the Circassians and the Armenians residing in northern and northeastern parts of Syria.
Turkish Kurds
The diplomat also pointed to the lack of reaction from international non-government organizations to Ankara’s ‘anti-terrorist operation’ in the Turkish southeastern provinces.
“We think that international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, which are claiming the role of experts in this sphere, should be tasked to attract attention of the world community to these developments,” she said, commenting on the investigation conducted by the Russia Today television channel into reports about mass violations of human rights in Turkey’s Kurdish regions.
“The lack of any comments from then on that problem may hint to a thought about their double-standard and discriminatory attitude they have been upholding in highlighting problems of human rights violation,” she stressed.
Related:
U.S., Russia compete to woo Syrian Kurds, Al-Monitor, May 2, 2016
Russian MP Zhirinovsky: ‘We support Greater Kurdistan’, Kurdistan 24, April 16, 2016
Deputy chairman of Russian Duma says Kurds deserve their ‘geographic right’, Kurdistan24, March 29, 2016
Deputy Chairman of the State Duma (Parliament) Sergei Zheleznyak told Kurdistan24 that Kurds are one of the most effective ground forces against Islamic State (IS) militants. Therefore, he believes that the international community should consider the Kurds’ political demands. “Kurds deserve to receive their geographic right in Iraq, Syria and the Middle East [in general],” he said.
Russia slams ‘selective’ human rights approach, urges impartial probe of Kurds’ plight in Turkey, RT.com, March 19, 2016
Russian foreign minister: Kurds must be invited to Geneva peace talks to preserve Syria’s integrity, RT.com, March 14, 2016
“If the Kurds are ‘thrown out’ of the negotiations on Syria’s future, how can you expect them to want to remain within this state?”, Lavrov said today in an interview with Russian REN TV channel.’
UN Security Council urges Turkey to ‘comply with int’l law’ in Syria following Russian protest over shellings of Kurds, RT.com, Feb 16, 2016
