Rojava Popular Initiative: Calls for investigation into Kobani Prison deaths

The Rojava Popular Initiative issued a statement on the events that took place over the past two days.

The statement addressed the death of Sipan Hazni, a fighter with the Hasakah Brigade, and the events that took place in Kobani.

The initiative stressed that “the people must not abandon their democratic activities for the sake of their language and in honor of their martyrs. However, during these activities, no side should be provoked. Democratic activities should instead be carried out with patience and awareness.”

The statement said:

“During this period, serious acts and violations are being committed against our people in Hasakah and Kobani. Three fighters from the Qamishlo Brigade were martyred in the Al-Kalasa neighborhood of Hasakah. The fighter with the Hasakah Brigade, martyr Sipan Hazni, was also kidnapped and tortured to death.

While our people were holding protests over Sipan’s death, a large force from the General Security forces affiliated with the transitional government moved toward Kobani and forcibly entered the city. When those forces attempted to arrest the detainees held under the responsibility of the Asayish forces and transfer them to Aleppo, the detainees heard about the move and protested against it. Gunfire then broke out inside the prison and fires were set. As a result of the fire, nine detainees were killed and 12 others were injured.

“During their deployment in the city, security forces also arrested and abducted 17 residents of Kobani, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

On behalf of the Rojava Popular Initiative, we strongly condemn these organized attacks and provocations. We extend our condolences to the families of the martyrs and to our people, wish the wounded a speedy recovery, and demand that these events be investigated as soon as possible and that anyone found responsible be held accountable and brought to trial. We also demand the immediate release of all detainees.

What the so-called General Security forces did to our people in Kobani represents a hostile approach, and they must immediately apologize to the people for what they have done.

Our people living on this land — Kurds, Syriacs, Arabs and all the peoples of the region — are dealing with this stage with great patience and awareness. They are following the implementation of the January 29 agreement and making great efforts to prevent provocations from paving the way for civil war. We consider this awareness and sacrifice by our people highly valuable and salute them for it.

Our people are the people of Leader Apo. They are politically aware and understand developments correctly, building their political position accordingly.

Since the signing of the January 29 agreement, Rojava and Syria have entered a new phase, and efforts are being made to implement the agreement. Our people understand that following the agreement, their struggle has entered a strategic phase of democratic politics and legal and legislative struggle.

Therefore, our people have expressed their pain over their martyrs and detainees through democratic means and demanded their rights within the legal framework. Our people have not taken a single step back from their goal of building a free and equal life and a democratic nation. They know well that a free and socialist life passes through social peace, which is why our people are holding more firmly than ever to freedom and democracy.

On the one hand, there are external forces, and on the other, internal forces that do not want stability and consensus to be achieved in Syria.

A stable and democratic Syria is not in the interests of these forces. They want Syria to remain permanently in a state of war and chaos so that it remains preoccupied with its internal problems and unable to protect itself against external threats.

These forces know Syria’s weaknesses well and exploit religious, national and sectarian divisions. They also constantly seek to turn the diversity of peoples and beliefs into a homogeneous society through a centralized state and centralized army. But homogenization is incompatible with the nature of societies, and legitimate reactions from society therefore emerge.

Our people want a fair and democratic consensus. According to the agreement, our people have the right to self-administration in Kurdish areas, the right to use their mother tongue, and the right to participate on the basis of a democratic social contract.

However, in practice, all the rights of our people are being denied. Women’s participation in decision-making mechanisms, education in Kurdish, the protection of our areas within their local framework, and participation in state institutions are all not regarded as legitimate rights of our people and are instead rejected.

For this reason, our people have for some time been holding democratic activities against this denial and disregard for their will. Our people’s demand for their mother tongue is a legitimate right, as legitimate as a mother’s milk. The government should open the way for local democracy, regard the diversity of Syrian society as a source of strength, and draw its strength from it.

But the interim government does not do this. Instead, it criminalizes Kurdish demands, and every time objections from Arab tribes are presented as an argument, they are used to raise the specter of war.

Our people do not believe that the Arab tribes will ever be drawn into this game, because Kurds, Arabs and the peoples of the region have lived together for thousands of years, and there have been no wars between them as groups and peoples.

Even during the 15 years of the revolution, despite all attempts and provocations, the peoples of the region lived together thanks to the idea of the democratic nation and did not kill one another.

At this final stage, attempts are being made to keep the Kurds outside state institutions and sever their ties with the state, potentially pushing Kurds and Arabs toward war. This is not in the interests of the peoples of Syria, but serves the forces that do not want the Syrian people to prosper.

For some time, our fighters and young people have been targeted and killed in several places in the name of the Arab tribes. Through these actions, they seek, on the one hand, to divert our people’s struggle from its cause and away from its goal, and on the other, to place the Arab tribes under suspicion.

We believe that the genuine Arab tribes will not be drawn into this game. We have shed blood together and made sacrifices together, and this is the foundation that can strengthen the unity of the country.

The method and purpose of the torture and killing of the fighter with the Hasakah Brigade, martyr Sipan, were deliberately and carefully chosen. Martyr Sipan belonged to a patriotic family, and two of his brothers were killed during the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom. His abduction, the deliberate filming of his torture and the publication of the footage on social media were also intentional.

This was done to provoke the Kurds and push them into confrontation with the Arab tribes. Those who attack our people each time in the name of the state do not want Syria’s interests or unity.

The unity of Syrian territory depends on a democratic social contract in which there is a place for all ethnicities, languages and beliefs. Those who attack the Kurds in this way want to push the Kurds toward choosing separate paths. But the Kurds are not doing that. They are making their choice consciously. The Kurds have chosen democratic integration. Our people want to participate in state institutions within the framework of democratic integration and continue their struggle within the framework of the law.

Democratic integration does not mean that our people should give up their national identity, gender identity or religious identity. These three identities are part of society, and no one can grant them to a person or take them away.

Likewise, our people’s acceptance of democratic integration does not mean giving up their language, abandoning their martyrs or failing to honor them. Everyone must respect the demands of our people.

Our people must not abandon their democratic activities for the sake of their language and in honor of their martyrs. However, while carrying out these activities, we must not provoke any side. Rather, we should conduct our democratic activities with patience and awareness.

The death of martyr Sipan and our other martyrs is not a personal or family matter. It was committed directly against our people. When we make a decision, we will do so responsibly and in accordance with the interests of our people.

The consequences of what happened today in Kobani are painful. The death of martyr Sipan, the attack on Kobani and the burning of the prison must be properly understood, and the real conclusions must be drawn from them.

An independent and impartial committee must be formed to investigate this attack. The findings of the investigation must be made public to our people, and those responsible for these events must be brought to trial."

“We will continue our struggle for our legitimate rights.”

a.k

ANHA