Why do Kurds blame PYD for Qamishlo's attack?

Twin explosions shook the Kurdish city of Qamishlo in late July 2016. The explosions killed more than 60 people and injured 140; scores of homes and shops ended up in ruins.  Many Kurds blame PYD for the breach in security which allowed it to happen.

To understand what happened, let’s go back to July 2012 when the Kurdish National Council (ENKS) and the People’s Council of Western Kurdistan (MGRK) signed an agreement, which became known as the Hewler Agreement.

The two sides signed the agreement under the auspices of the President of the Kurdistan Region, Massoud Barzani in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

They agreed to work together as “Kurdish Supreme Committee” for the Kurdish political cause during the ongoing civil war in Syria.

A year later, as IS invaded Kurdish territories in Iraq and Syria, the Peshmerga forces and the People's Protection Units (YPG), along with the Women Protection Units (YPJ), became the most reliable partners of the international coalition in the fight against IS.

On the other hand, the YPG began to dominate the Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) with checkpoints and security offices as they had a tacit agreement with the Syrian regime.

Both the Peshmerga and YPG fighters did an extraordinary job liberating the Kurdish city of Kobane from Islamic State (IS) in early 2015 with air support from the coalition forces.

The international fight gradually expanded westward, reaching Manbij, north of Raqqa, to cut resources from IS.

Later, the YPG forces began working with other Syrian rebels and formed the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and continued the fight there, out of the Kurdish area.

By doing this, the city of Qamishlo suffered a lack of human resources for a sustainable security support, but PYD did not allow the trained Rojava Peshmerga, made up of Syrian Kurds who fled to Iraqi Kurdistan, to enter Syria.

The lack of sufficient human resources in Qamishlo caused a kind of chaos and instability in the security process, which helped IS to achieve a security breach and bomb the city.

The explosion was disastrous. It cost human and material losses and slowed liberating areas from IS.

[Site of IS bomb attack in northeast Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishlo on July 27. (Photo: AFP)]

The destroyed neighborhoods now need to be rebuilt, but how can it be done after the division caused by PYD breaching the Hewler (and later the Duhok) Agreements.

The best way is to work together to bring new investments to rebuild the area and convince the international community that Kurds are reliable partners on the ground to obtain a complete recognition and support for their role.

Kurds just see that PYD should have secured their safe and beloved city Qamishlo that has become a shelter for every minority and even Arabs from other regions.

Supported by U.S. airpower, YPG forces fought for liberating Menbij for nearly three months. They declared completely liberated Manbij on August 12. However, the past few weeks, significant changes have happened on ground as the Syrian regime jets started flying over the city of Hasakah, bombing the Kurdish forces in the city.

Clashes between YPG and the Assad's forces left 23 civilians, including nine children, and 16 combatants’ dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

While inhabitants started fleeing to the city of Qamishlo or the nearby villages, bread was running out, also water and electricity supplies. 

 U.S led coalition-scrambled jets and warned the regime through Russia not to strike Kurdish areas and U.S allies.

On August 16, 2016, both sides reached a ceasefire and lately the Syrian Regime withdrew from Hasakah.

24 hours later, we were surprised by the Turkish intervention in Syria through Jarablus in cooperation with the Arab rebels from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), under the pretext of fighting IS, but in reality, it is to diminish the Kurdish influence on the east bank of Euphrates.

We can expect sudden shifts in alliances as circumstances have changed; Turkey is more important to the U.S. and Russia, especially as Turkey has begun normalizing relations with them.

For how long relationship between the US and PYD will last, no one knows. Hence, to have a stronger position, Kurds should have a unified voice and collaborate with one-another.

PYD should act responsibly towards the Kurdish issue and make sure to deliver the Kurdish cause in the right way, try to keep the Kurdish achievements on ground by respecting agreements and coordinating with other Kurdish parties politically and military, and address the safety of the Kurdish people as its high priority.

Geen Al-Hasan is a Kurdish writer from Qamishlo and a cultural researcher focusing on Heritage in the Middle East.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Kurdistan24.

Editing by Delovan Barwari