Kobane battle: A summary for beginners and/or the confused

§0. This text is not a sound argument for an ideological propaganda, it is the propaganda. Nor is it a comprehensive analysis of the current imperialist plans in the Middle East. It is just a small note written by a revolutionary to other revolutionaries, that summarizes the minimum information about the acute situation in Kobane and describes what actions to take. (This document can be downloaded in printable pdf format: Kobane battle)

Background

§1. The Kobane battle is between ISIS and YPG/YPJ. It takes place in Rojava, i.e. West Kurdistan.

ISIS, or the Islamic State, is a jihadist state that declared caliphate. This means that for ISIS, you are a Muslim if and only if you are part of ISIS. Anyone else is an infidel by definition. In accordance with the Islamic rule, ISIS enslaves Yazidi men, and enslaves and trades Yazidi women as concubines. ISIS controls an area of the size of the UK, a region which happens to have a lot of oil, which they happened to sell to Turkey.

the size of ISIS

YPG, the People’s Protection Units, is the armed forces of PYD (Democratic Union Party). YPJ is the Women’ Protection Units. PYD is the Syrian branch of the Kurdish liberation movement KCK (Group of Communities in Kurdistan). KCK was initiated by PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and consists of political parties active in the Kurdish regions of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.

PKK is considered as a terrorist organization by the Turkish state, and there is a decades-long civil war between the PKK guerillas and the Turkish army. (In the last years, the KCK investigations involved some 30 000+ arrests in Turkey, including 100+ journalists.)

§2. Last spring, PYD declared autonomy in three cantons (Afrin, Jazira and Kobane). The constitution can be found here.

An analysis published this summer comparing Rojava to Chiapas can be read here.

§3. Since months, many communist militants from Turkey have joined YPG in solidarity with the revolution.

From the battleground

§4. The offensive of ISIS in Kobane started on September 15th. The plan was to take the city center by September 20th. Turkish authorities were willing to open the borders to approximately 400.000 refugees and play the hospitable host.

YPG forces carefully evacuated the region and retreated to Kobane. Around 160.000+ refugees entered Turkey in the first two weeks, which brought the risk of massacre to international agenda. The resistance in Kobane continues for more than a month.

§5. If Kobane falls,

• hundreds of thousands would face massacre,
• as it is one of the 3 autonomous regions in the Rojava revolutions, the connection between the other regions would be interrupted,
• ISIS would have a unified zone in control for arms transfer as well as oil trade.

§6. In one month, a total of 1294 ISIS militants were killed, 10 tanks and many other armed vehicles were destroyed, and a large amount of ammunition was seized. On the other hand, 129 YPG/YPJ militants died in battle.

§7. On October 6th, ISIS militia entered the city center of Kobane. This is probably when you heard the name Kobane for the first time because that’s when world-wide protests made a peak.

After a week of resistance, YPG announced that they moved to an offensive to take back the parts of Kobane they had to withdraw from.

§8. An international alliance was formed following the advances of ISIS. This alliance aimed at supporting the resistance against ISIS by sending arms as well as humanitarian aid. The airplanes of the alliance have been bombing ISIS bases for more than a week now.

The Turkish state was particularly uncooperative all along this period. The AKP government not only resisted to open a safety corridor for medical support to arrive, but also sent 100+ refugees back to Kobane. While aircrafts of Turkish army bombed PKK bases in Daglica (Hakkari, Turkey), Turkish soldiers opened fire to villagers at the border.

§9. While YPG liberated several important spots, the siege continues. Keep in mind that ISIS not only has tanks and heavy military equipment, but also possibly captured chemical weapons that were given to Iraq by the US during the Iraq-Iran.

International response

§10. Hundreds of protests took place all over the world. Worth mentioning are

• the occupation of Orly airport in Paris,
• the occupation of Oxford Street metro station in London,
• 7 Austrian Green party deputies occupying the Turkish embassy in Wien,
• 100+ protesting inside the European Parliament in Brussels.
• 100.000+ marching in Dusseldorf, and tens of thousands all around Europe.

§11. Numerous protests in Turkey were confronted by state oppression. Islamist militants, actively supported by police forces, attacked protesters in several cities.

45 persons died in the protests, and there are at least 682 injuries reported. A total of 1974 detentions and 323 arrests were documented.

Curfew was announced in 6 Turkish cities to stop the protests. The army took the streets in Esenyurt, Istanbul to prevent any possible protests.

§12. The US policies created the background out of which ISIS grew. It does seem that the US-lead alliance forces bomb ISIS just enough to keep the Kobane front in its current conditions. This provides them with a strong hand in the negotiations.

Russia, Iran and Syria are willing to help YPG, and they are putting pressure on the Turkish government to form a safety corridor. The US does not want Assad involved, and therefore pushes YPG to ally with Syrian rebels as a condition for further help. Turkey resists to any proposal that might jeopardize its own medium-sized imperialist plans for the region, especially anything that implies support to PKK.

What to do

§13. Thousands of activists mobilized for support. As winter approaches, the risk of epidemics in refugee camps becomes the most important threat to public health. As the Turkish state does not cooperate to provide shelter and public services (except when they are jihadist militants, as was documented several times), medical associations in the region made a warning to emphasize the urgent need for medicament and winter clothes.

§14. This is urgent.

§15. The Kobane resistance needs all kinds of support immediately. HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) in Turkey made an international call for “permanent resistance” everywhere. It’s not common for Turkish left to make such statements. See §14.

§16. Spokesperson of the Kobanê Canton Administration stated that urgent help is needed by thousands of civilians who have recently settled in the town after the evacuation of villages for safety reasons. See §14.

§17. More updates and reliable information can be found here.

There is an ongoing campaign to collect money for the region. (in Turkish) See §14.

There will be a debate in Lisbon on October 21st, Tuesday, in Mob.