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October 21st, 2017 
Awake Goy 
Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) : The Syrian Kurdish YPG and YPG as well as other allied groups celebrated the liberation of Raqqa, delivering speeches in front of a giant banner showing the jailed Turkish – Kurdish PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. A borderline PR problem for Washington after the U.S. asked the YPG/YPJ to “tone down” their apparent links to the PKK so as not to stress relations between Washington and Ankara.
Speaking during a victory declaration in Raqqa earlier this week YPJ Commander Nesrin Abdullah said the; “YPJ has been a hope for all the women of Syria during the Raqqa campaign, defending women from Kurdish, Arabian and other nations and all religions and planting seeds of brotherhood among peoples.” The U.S.-backed YPG/YPJ-led Syrian Democratic (SDF) liberated Raqqa from ISIS occupation following a battle of 135 days.
Starting from the early morning hours of October 18, hundreds of fighters from Women’s Defense Units (YPJ) started to gather at al-Naim Square where the liberation of the city was officially announced. The square, where ISIS gangs would commit mass executions, has been decorated with a huge image of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, flags of People’s Defense Units (YPG), Women’s Defense Units (YPJ), Shengal Women’s Units (YJŞ) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Making the official statement on behalf of YPJ Command, Nesrin Abdullah said they dedicated the Raqqa victory to Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan and all the fighters who lost their lives during the liberation campaign.
Abdullah said they were making the statement in Arabic for their respect for the Arabian people, and pointed out the suffering of women who –she said- paid the heaviest price under the reign of male-dominant regimes. She stressed that the history of women, filled with pain, challenge, resistance and struggle, reached a new phase with the YPJ that was declared on April 4, 2013.
Abdullah remarked that ever since, the YPJ has undertaken the struggle of women’s history and started to end the suffering of women. She continued; “Women have freed themselves of the exploitative male regime in political, social, cultural and military aspects, and became a solution to the problems and builder of morals. The establishment of women’s army against Ahrar Al-Sham, Al-Nusra and ISIS was a response to the powers in Syria, and a major step serving for the peoples of Syria.”
She noted that more women have joined their army after their comrade Warşin mounted great resistance and fell a martyr for women’s emancipation, since when the military force of women has been the beacon of freedom for the peoples of Syria.
Defining women as a part of the resistance, Abdullah underlined that the women’s army has undertaken a leading role and mounted mighty resistance against the gangs since the very beginning, citing Arin Mirkan who sacrificed her life and became a symbol of victory, as well as comrades Şevîn, Sozdar, Hebûn, Silava, Zozan and dozens of other women who made clear with their stance that the women’s freedom march will never cease.
Putting emphasis on the ideological and strategic importance of the YPJ in the liberation of Raqqa, Commander Abdullah said; “Our fighters have played an active role since the launch of the Raqqa campaign. We have achieved this success shoulder to shoulder with YPG and SDF forces. YPJ has been a hope for all the women of Syria during the Raqqa campaign, defending women from Kurdish, Arabian and other nations and all religions and planting seeds of brotherhood among peoples.”
Abdullah continued; “We inflicted the heaviest blow on the gangs here which they called their capital. With this struggle of ours, we emancipated and glorified the trampled honor of Êzidî women. We have emancipated thousands of captive Êzidî women and children. Arab women who have joined the YPJ during this process declared two battalions under which they participated and gave a great struggle in the battle for Raqqa. Another battalion from YJŞ also took an active role and avenged their people in this campaign. We have rescued 450 thousand civilians from the clutches of the gangs and helped them reach safe zones. During the historic Raqqa campaign, 30 female fighters have fallen as martyrs. We dedicate the liberation of Raqqa to all the women of the world.” The statement ended with the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” [Woman, Life, Freedom] and celebrations in the area continue.
The prominent display of “the huge” banner with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan – one might think – buries once and for all the claims and statements issued by the PYD – YPG/YPJ that there are no links between them and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party which is outlawed in Turkey. Ankara designated the PYD – YPG/YPJ as terrorist organizations allied and on par with the PKK.
Poor Washington
The situation brings to mind the words spoken by General Raymond Thomas, commander of the United States special operations forces command, at the Aspen Institute in July 2017. Thomas spoke frankly about a number of controversial issues pertaining the United States’ presence in Iraq and Syria.
He said that one of the most discussed and most misunderstood issues is the evolution of our counterpart in Syria, the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces. He added that he has dealt with them directly and that during the formative stage of the relationship. General Thomas added that they (the Syrian – Kurdish militants) formally called themselves the People’s Protection Units (YPG). He added that the Turks claim that this equated to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and that Turkey blames the United States for “dealing with their terrorist enemy”. He commented on the pragmatic issues involved, saying:
“So, we literally played back to them: ‘You have got to change your brand. What do you want to call yourselves besides the YPG?’ With about a day’s notice they declared that they are the Syrian Democratic Forces, I thought it was a stroke of brilliance to put democracy in there somewhere. But it gave them a little bit of credibility.”
However, he said, the US military was not able to give the Syrian Kurds a seat at the table at the Syrian peace negotiations. He said:
“I was luckily to have great partner, in Brett McGurk out there at the time, because they were asking for thing I couldn’t give to them. And it was literally an acknowledgement, that they were the demographic dominant force in northern Syria. They wanted a seat at the table, whether it’s Geneva or Astana, wherever the talks are happening about the future Syria, and because they had been branded as the PKK they could never get to the table. So while we paired with them militarily, McGurk was able to keep them in the conversation and allowed them the necessary legitimacy to be good partners for us. So its was literally something, I dealt militarily, and the diplomat delivered an entrée, from a state stand point.” (emphasis added)
In fact, attempts to include Syrian Kurds in the Geneva and Astana talks is one of the few initiatives both the United States and the Russian Federation have been working at for some time now, even though over Russian support for Syrian Kurds – including in State media – diminished significantly after Russia, Iran and Turkey joined forces to launch the Astana Talks and subsequent joint initiatives.
General Thomas added that the alliance between Kurds and the US coalition against ISIS developed in Kobani, after they tripped on them, and the Iraqi Kurds asked the US-led coalition to help the Kurds in Syria. He said:
“There was a town called Kobani, I had to find it on the map, I had no idea where Kobani was. But it was identified to us, as a town that was just about to be expunged by ISIS. They [ISIS] had massed thousands of troops on it. They wanted it symbolically it was up on the Turkish border. And other [Iraqi] Kurds introduced us to this problem, and asked if we could help them. … All we did early on we provided kinetic capabilities to them, and kept them from being wiped out, they were up the backdrop the Turkish border, they had no escape [vow] there. And I was able to walk the dirt in Kobani, seven months later, it was utter devastation. .. (…) [our] Kurdish allies lost 2000 there, they estimate ISIS lost about 6,000 to 10,000 there. There was a complete devastation of the town. But they were just happy that they survived the experience. And out of that seed corn, that’s when they start saying we have Kurdish cantons, and right away, going to be more representative than that.”
General Thomas described the Kurdish problem, in part as a PKK branding challenge and that Kurds could help themselves. He noted that the fact that the Turks are reminding the U.S. every day that Washington cooperates with PKK terrorists could be understood as a “branding challenge”. Thomas gave an example for this “branding challenge”, remembering one episode, saying:
“The first time that Brett McGurk and I went to this very old, cold guildhall in Kobani, right on the Turk border, we went in there, a bunch of somber technocrats and military people, and whose beaming face is looking down on us from the front of the guildhall but (that of) Öcalan. .. We said, ‘hey, that’s got to go. You cannot hold on to Öcalan and have any chance of legitimacy in the construct we’re in. So, you either something different, or. And something that has a legitimacy. ..” (emphasis added)
General Thomas also commented on the predominant Kurdish form of governance. He said that “it isn’t perfect but at least it provides a model”, one that is at least nominally socialist where woman and men share power as equals. He noted that women are fighting and actively involved in all levels of leadership. Thomas added that he and McGurk had discussed that this was a model that was compatible with a future Syria.
Already tense relations between Washington and Ankara have worsened significantly since July and one might presume that the YPJ rubbing Washington’s and Ankara’s noses with a gigantic Öcalan banner at display in Raqqa wouldn’t be something that suggests that the PYD and PKK are interested in improved bilateral relations between Ankara and Washington.
CH/L – nsnbc 21.10.2017
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/10/21/celebrating-ypg-ypj-in-raqqa-rub-washingtons-and-ankaras-noses-with-giant-ocalan-banner/
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