16-17/Jan/2025
#NES
Meeting Abdi-Barzani
Mazlum Abdi traveled to Hewler (Erbil) with other high commanders of SDF to meet with Masoud Barzani and othe high representatives of KDP. Abdi reported the meeting went good, and they discussed about the importance of Kurdish unity for peace in Syria and dialog with the transitional government of Damascus.
Resistance in Tishreen
Turkish continue bombing the civilian resistance in Tishreen. For 10 days people from several regions of northern Syria have been arriving to hold a vigil to protect the dam.
Turkish air attacks
Together with the intense attacks on Tishreen, Turkey also continued air attacks in southern Kobane and Ain Issa. A drone strike also hit the western neighborhood
of Qamishlo twice.
# Syria
Qatar PM visit Damascus
Qatar PM al-Thani visited Damascus, he made a common declaration with al-Sharaa condemning the advances of Israel in the “buffer zone. This statement came after an Israeli strike allegedly killed a regional head of security and two other Syrian security personnel.
Spanish FM visit damascus
The FM of Spain, Jose Manuel Albarres Bueno, becomes the 4th European FM to visit Damascus after Germany, France, Italy. Embassy in Spain is also restoring relations with Syria and anounced to be working to lift economical sanctions.
Coalition bombing Deir ezzor
Two air raids by the international coalition aircraft on Mount Tharda near Deir Ezzor military airport. Some missiles of unknown origin also fell near the Conoco gas field, one of the international coalition forces’ bases.
International criminal court in Damascus
A delegation from the International Criminal Court, headed by Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan, traveled to Damascus to discuss with Al-Sharaa about an international criminal court process against the al-Assad Regime.
EU promise €235 Milion to Syria
European Union Commissioner for Crisis Management Haja Lahbib announced a new €235 million aid package aimed at supporting Syria after meeting al-Sharaa in Damascus.
# Analysis
The meeting between Mazlum Abdi and Masoud Barzani has been celebrated by kurds in cities like Qamishlo. Others look at it with mistrust. Some hope it is the beginning of negotiations towards a process for kurdish national unity. Together with the meetings of KNK (Kurdish National Council) that recently took place in Qamishlo, we see big efforts from kurdish political bodies to build national unity and cooperation with the new Damascus administration. This can also bee seen in relation to the recent delegation that visited Abdullah Ocalan in Imrali, that shared a message of dialogue towards peace and stability.
It is the first time that PDK, the ruling party of KRG (kurdish regional government in Iraq), hosts an official delegation from SDF. Besides a brief cooperation in 2012-2013, the relations with PDK and PYD, the main kurdish political party of north East Syria, had been difficult. PDKs cooperation with Turkey has been a deep contradiction that made any agreements impossible. PDK expanded their activities and influence in some areas of Afrin, under occupation of Turkish proxies. After serious disagreements, the self administration forbid ENKS, a party affiliated with PDK, to continue working in northern Syria. This blockade was lifted some months ago, but the relations still difficult. There are also decades of conflict, even war, between PDK and PKK that will make those negotiations very difficult.
National unity is an important element for any process of national liberation. The promises of a free Kurdistan had been the engine of many Kurdish political parties for several generations, but how this free Kurdistan looks like (and who is ruling it) has been always a point of conflict. The occupation of other nation states of Kurdish land made the creation of a Kurdish state impossible. The proposal of Democratic confederalism moved away from attempts to build a Kurdish state, and instead developed the proposal of democratic nation to build a stateless society. How much this is compatible with current negotiations is something that only time will tell.
Revolutionary greetings!