Kurds in Syria

Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria making up less than 10% of the country's population. [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html] Most of them are Sunni Muslims; there are also Yazidi Kurds in Syria. A very small number are Christians and Alawis.

Syrian Kurdistan (in Kurdish, "Kurdistana Sûriya") is the unofficial name often used to describe the northeastern region in Syria inhabited by Kurds. Western Kurdistan (in Kurdish, "Rojava ya Kurdistanê") is also used and references the region's geographical location with respect to the greater Kurdistan region.

Geography

Thanks to Sherif Alaa, Syria's Kurds mostly live in a geocultural region located in present-day north-eastern Syria. This region covers greater part of the governorate of Al Hasakah. The main cities in this region are Al-Qamishli and Al Hasakah. Another region with significant Kurdish population is Kobany (Ain Al-Arab) in the northern part of Syria near the town of Jarabluss. The Kurdish-inhabited northern and northeastern parts of Syria in Kurdish is called "Kurdistana Binxetê". An area of Kurdish concentration is Kurd-Dagh in the northwest, around the town of Afrin in Aleppo Governorate, a region that extends to the Turkish districts Islahiye and Kırıkhan. Also many Kurds live in metropolitan areas and large cities of the country. [ [http://modersmal.skolutveckling.se/nordkurdiska/kurdmap/pages/Geographic%20Distribution%20of%20Kurdish%20and%20other%20Iranic%20Languages_jpg_gif.htm modersmal.skolutveckling.se] ] [ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html cia.gov] ]

History

The ancient empire of Mittani was centered at "Washu Kani" around modern Serê Kani in Syrian Kurdistan.

KDPS, Jazira and Barzani

Osman Sabri along with some Kurdish politicians, founded the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDPS) in 1957. The objectives of KDPS were promotion of Kurdish cultural rights, economic progress and democratic change. KDPS was never legally recognized by the Syrian state and remains an underground organization, specially after a crackdown in 1960 during which several of its leaders were arrested, charged with separatism and imprisoned. After the failure of Syrian political union with Egypt in 1961, Syria was declared an "Arab Republic" in the interim constitution. On 23 August 1962, the government conducted a special population census only for the province of "Jazira" which was predominantly Kurdish. As a result, around 120,000 Kurds in Jazira were arbitrarily categorized as "aliens". In fact, the inhabitants had Syrian identity cards and were told to hand them over to the administration for renewal. However those Kurds who submitted their cards received nothing in return. A media campaign was launched against the Kurds with slogans such as "Save Arabism in Jazira!" and "Fight the Kurdish threat!". These policies coincided with the beginning of Barzani's uprising in Iraqi Kurdistan and discovery of oilfields in the Kurdish inhabited areas of Syria. In June 1963, Syria took part in the Iraqi military campaign against the Kurds by providing aircraft, armoured vehicles and a force of 6,000 soldiers. Syrian troops crossed the Iraqi border and moved into Kurdish town of Zakho in pursuit of Barzani's fighters [I. C. Vanly, "The Kurds in Syria and Lebanon", In "The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview", Edited by P.G. Kreyenbroek, S. Sperl, Chapter 8, Routledge, 1992, ISBN 0415072654, pp.151-2]

Arab cordon

In 1965, the Syrian government decided to create an Arab cordon ("Hizam Arabi") in the Jazira region along the Turkish border. The cordon was 300 kilometers long and 10-15 kilometers wide, stretched from the Iraqi border in the east to "Ras Al-Ain" in the west. The implementation of the "Arab cordon" plan began in 1973 and Bedouin Arabs were brought in and resettled in Kurdish areas. The toponymy of the area such as village names were Arabized. According to the original plan, some 140,000 Kurds had to be deported to the southern desert near "Al-Raad". Although Kurdish farmers were dispossessed of their lands, they refused to move and give up their houses. Among these Kurdish villagers, those who were designated as alien are not allowed to own property, to repair a crumbling house or to build a new one [I. C. Vanly, "The Kurds in Syria and Lebanon", In "The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview", Edited by P.G. Kreyenbroek, S. Sperl, Chapter 8, Routledge, 1992, ISBN 0415072654, pp.157,158,161] .

1986 Demonstrations

In March 1986, a few thousand Kurds wearing Kurdish costume gathered in the Kurdish part of Damascus to celebrate the spring festival of Newroz. Police warned them that Kurdish dress is prohibited and it fired on the crowd leaving one person dead. Around 40,000 Kurds took part in his funeral in Qamishli. Also in Afrin, three Kurds were killed during the the Newroz demonstrations [I. C. Vanly, "The Kurds in Syria and Lebanon", In "The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview", Edited by P.G. Kreyenbroek, S. Sperl, Chapter 8, Routledge, 1992, ISBN 0415072654, pp.163-164] .

The March 2004 riots

After an incident in a football stadium in Al Qamishli, 30 people were killed and more than 160 were injured in days of clashes starting from March 12. Kurdish sources indicated that Syrian security forces used live ammunition against civilians after clashes broke out at a football match between Kurdish fans of the local team and Arab supporters of a visiting team from the city of Deir al-Zor. The international press reported that nine people were killed on March 12. According to Amnesty International hundreds of people, mostly Kurds, were arrested after the riots. Kurdish detainees were reportedly tortured and ill-treated. Some Kurdish students were expelled from their universities, reportedly for participating in peaceful protests. [ [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/03/19/syria8132.htm Syria: Address Grievances Underlying Kurdish Unrest] , HRW, March 19, 2004.]

Human rights of Kurds in Syria

Amnesty and HRW reports

Kurds often speak Kurdish in public, unless all those present do not. Amnesty International USA claims Kurdish human rights activists are mistreated and persecuted. [ [http://www.amnestyusa.org/regions/middleeast/document.do?id=80256DD400782B8480256F63006435DB amnestyusa.org] ] According to the Human Rights Watch, Kurds in Syria can not use the Kurdish language, are not allowed to register children with Kurdish names, prohibited to start businesses that do not have Arabic names, are not permitted to build Kurdish private schools, and prohibited to publish books and other materials written in Kurdish. [http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Syria.htm hrw.org] ] [ [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/syria9812.htm hrw.org] ]

Citizenship

In 1962, 20 percent of the Syrian Kurdish population were stripped of their Syrian citizenship following a very highly controversial census raising concerns among human rights groups. According to the Syrian government, the reason for this enactment was due to groups of Kurds infiltrating the Al-Hasakah Governorate in 1945. The Syrian government claims that the Kurds came from neighboring countries, especially Turkey, and crossed into Syrian borders illegally. The government claims that these Kurds settled down, gradually, in the region in cities like Amuda and Al Qamishli until they accounted for the majority in some of these cities. The government also claims that many Kurds were capable of registering themselves illegally in the Syrian civil registers. The government further speculated that Kurds intended to settle down and acquire property, especially after the issue of the agricultural reform law, in order to benefit from land redistribution. However, according to Human Rights Watch, the Syrian government falsely claimed that many of the Kurds who were the original inhabitants of the land were foreigners, and in turn, violated their human rights by stripping them of their Syrian citizenship. [ [http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Syria.htm Syria Silenced Kurds, Human Rights Watch] ]

As a result of government claims of an increase in illegal immigration, the Syrian government decided to conduct a general census on October 5, 1962 in the governorate with claims that it's sole purpose was to purify registers and eliminate the alien infiltrators. As a result, the verified registrations of the citizens of Syria were included in the new civil registers. The remaining, which included 100,000 Kurds, were registered as foreigners in special registers. Since then, the number of stateless Syrian Kurds has grown to more than 200,000. [ [http://voanews.com/english/archive/2005-09/2005-09-02-voa15.cfm?CFID=46444555&CFTOKEN=26238763 voanews.com] ]

According to the Human Rights Watch, by many accounts, the special census was carried out in an arbitrary manner separating members of the same families and classifying them differently. HRW claims that some Kurds in the same family became citizens while others became foreigners suggesting an inaccuracy in the Syrian government's process; HRW also alleges that some of the Kurds who had served in the Syrian army lost citizenship while those who bribed officials kept theirs. [ [http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Syria.htm Syria Silenced Kurds, Human Rights Watch] ] Stateless Kurds also do not have the option of legally relocating to another country because they lack passports or other internationally recognized travel documents. In Syria, other than in the governorate of Al-Hasakah, foreigners cannot be employed at government agencies and state-owned enterprises; they may not legally marry Syrian citizens. Kurds with foreigner status do not have the right to vote in elections or run for public office.

According to some sources Syria is recently planning to grant citizenship to those Kurds. However, there has been no implementation of these plans thus far. [ [http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=12568 themedialine.org] ]

See also

* KurdNAS.com
* History of the Kurds
* Kurdish people
* KurdishMedia.com

References

External links

* [http://www.amude.com amude.com: Indipendent Kurdish website]
* [http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/pdf/research/mep/BPSyrianKurds.pdf#search=%22Kurds%22 The Syrian Kurds: A People Discovered] , By Robert Lowe, Middle East Programme, Chatham House, January 2006.
* [http://voanews.com/english/archive/2005-09/2005-09-02-voa15.cfm?CFID=46444555&CFTOKEN=26238763 Syria's Kurds Struggle for Rights]
* [http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/verden/article202037.ece Frykter massacre in Syria]
* [http://www.silav.net/ Kurdistan silav.net]