Witness to March 12th Uprising: We still feel pain when we remember our martyrs

Kahraman Othman, an eyewitness to the March 12th Uprising in 2004 says that he remembers that incident whenever he visits the March 12th Stadium, and also adds: "They turned that beautiful day into a day of grief. On the one hand I suffer a lot, and on the other hand I feel proud that our people united their word on that day and decided to resist."

11 March, 2021 22:51

QAMISHLO - JIHAN BELKIN

"When I enter the stadium, I remember that day. They turned that beautiful day into a day of sadness," with these words, Kahraman Othman remembers the March 12^th Uprising in Qamishlo, as an eyewitness to that uprising.

March 12, 2004 is considered a day of the uprising for the people of north and east Syria. Two prominent phenomena met on that day, the first is killing defenseless civilians brutally, and the second is the unique resistance shown by the people.

In that year, the oppressive government of Damascus turned its wrath on the Kurdish people with the aim of eliminating them, and was awaiting the appropriate opportunity to implement this scheme.

At the beginning of the 2000s, Saddam Hussein's regime fell in Iraq, federalism was established in Southern Kurdistan, and the Kurdistan Parliament was established in 2003. All these development in general did not satisfy the occupying regimes of Kurdistan, and in particular the Damascus government which sought with all its strength to obliterate the Kurdish people's hopes of freedom, which had begun to revive.

In that period, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) struggle and the presence of the leader Abdullah Ocalan in the region played an important role in the people rallying around the freedom movement, and in order to limit the spread of leader Abdullah Ocalan's ideas in the region, a dirty scheme was developed to sow discord between the Kurds and Arabs and to stir up strives and conflicts.

On that day, inhabitants of all ages gathered on the football field, waiting for the start of the match and the victory of their team, but anticipation and waiting turned into vigorous efforts to aid the injured and take them to hospitals.

What happened that day?

On the 12^th of March 2004, a football match was held between the two teams of al-Jihad in Qamishlo and al-Fatwa team from Deir Ezzor. The residents came to the stadium to support their team. Usually, the fans of the two teams do not sit in the same place during the matches, but the government had planned and prepared for everything, as the fans of al-Fatwa team were allowed to be among the fans of al-Jihad team, loaded with stones, sticks and weapons, with the aim of committing a massacre.

When the players and fans entered the stadium, racist groups chanted slogans against the Kurdish people and leaders of the Kurdish people, and others called for the life of Saddam Hussein, then attacked the Kurdish people, and at the same time, the police and army in the Syrian government carried out an attack against the people and closed the door of the stadium.

'Hundreds of young people headed to the stadium'

A quarrel arose between the fans of the two teams, and government forces fired live bullets towards al-Jihad fans. The shooting resulted in the death of 9 civilians, including two children, and after news of the attack spread among the people, hundreds of Kurdish youths headed to the stadium, while the Syrian government forces prevented them from entering the stadium, but many young people were able to jump over the fence and enter the stadium in order to protect the people. Meanwhile, the governor of al-Hasakah during that period, Salim Kaboul, issued orders to shoot live bullets at the people, which resulted in martyring 33 civilians and wounding dozens as well.

In addition, the forces of the Damascus government prevented ambulances from reaching the wounded, and many wounded died as a result of bleeding for a long time without allowing access to the hospital, and government hospitals refused to receive the wounded.

'Crushing a child underfoot'

The eyewitness on that day, Kahraman Othman, says: "The Syrian government had prepared itself to commit a massacre in advance. They took the supporters of al-Fatwa team to our side to attack us from there. They attacked us with stones and sticks, while we were carrying nothing. During the attacks, an 11-year-old child fell, was crushed among feet and lost his life as a result."

'Residents flocked from Amuda, Dêrik and Girkê Legê, but the government forces did not allow them to pass.'

Othman also added: "The people heard that there was a massacre committed in Qamishlo stadium, so they arrived from Amuda, Dêrik and Girkê Legê, but the Damascus government forces closed all roads leading to Qamishlo, and did not allow anyone to see this massacre or provide assistance, but some of Amuda people were able to reach by foot."

At first they fired plastic bullets, and later they fired live bullets. I saw with my own eyes a young man was trying to avoid the bullets of the government forces, and he died as a result of being hit by live bullets. We tried to transfer his body, but the soldiers were shooting. "

Regarding what happened on the second day of the attack, Kahraman Othman said: "Marches took place in the city of Qamishlo, and during these marches, the Damascus government forces fired again on the participants in the march, and there were major arrests, some civilians were martyred, and on the day the funeral of those martyrs' corpses took place, the people were attacked again by Damascus governmenet.

'Fouad Aliko: Come back, there is no use in what you are doing'

Since that time, the so-called Fuad Aliko demonstrated the attitudes of treachery towards the Kurdish people, Othman says about Aliko's position: "In that period, and on the first day of the uprising, the so-called Fuad Aliko who considered himself one of the leaders of the Kurdish people appeared and told the people," Come back, there is no benefit from what you are doing. "

He also said the same thing in the Customs Center of the Damascus government, his first concern was his position, and he did not want the Kurdish people to unite, but the people united during that period. The Kurdish people united their word against the attacks, and that was a great victory, and as a result of that uprising, the Damascus government recognized that the Kurds had united."

'The goal was to sow discord and eliminate the Kurds'

Othman said that the Damascus government was afraid of the Kurdish people organization. He added: "Many plots have been drawn up against the Kurdish people, and the goal was to eliminate the Kurds and ignite sedition between the Kurds and Arabs."

Kahraman Othman added: "They have turned that beautiful day into a day of grief. On the one hand, I suffer a lot when we remember the martyrs, and on the other hand, I feel proud because our people united on that day and decided to resist."

In observance of the memory of the martyrs of the March 12^th Uprising, and after the start of the revolution in Rojava, the stadium in which the massacre took place was named after the March 12^th Martyrs Stadium.

While the plans and plots of the Damascus government and its agents against the components of north and east Syria continue to this day, and although it failed miserably during that period to achieve its goals, it is still continuing its efforts and plans to sow discord between the Kurds and the Arabs.

D.H

ANHA