Eugen Hardt
For years, the “Revolution in Rojava”, the northern part of Syria on the Turkish border, from libertarian to Maoist parts of the radical left is hyped. The “autonomy” is praised, the liberation of women and the fight against the Islamic state. Solidarity to participation in the armed struggle was announced, especially after the victorious battle for Kobane against terrorists from the Islamic state. Rojava was and is for them not only for the perspective of their own Kurdish state but for that of a focus of the international social revolution against imperialism.
In this crucial facts were always hidden.
- First, the revolution in Rojava contains no anti-capitalist objectives or changes.
- Second, democracy restricted to local self-government. From very nature is in the “democracy” is a form of “people’s democracy” of the Stalinist bloc during the Cold War, so a one-party regime.
- Third, there is an ethnic-separatist project of Kurdish nationalism.
- Fourth, the revolution is understood not as an anti-imperialist.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that it concerns with the Kurds to a divided and oppressed by Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria nation whose struggle for national liberation solidarity requires even if this is done under the leadership of bourgeois forces.
The situation is similar with the which is sold and oppressed by Jewish colonists of the Palestinian people. Although there is no doubt about the reactionary Islamist ideology of Hamas, the fight against the settlers is legitimate and necessary solidarity.
This does not mean that an ethnocentric-nationalist politics or Islamist ideology are not to criticize simultaneously. Solidarity can therefore be only very limited.
PKK as a stooge of US imperialism
History shows that the ethnically defined nationalism makes a pawn of imperialism. Any socialist claim the PKK had taken off already over 10 years ago and every anti-imperialist claim. Instead, put Ocalan to “peace” with the islamofaschistischen Erdoganregime. In Iraq, the Kurdish fighters allied open simultaneously with the Zionist entity and the US imperialism.
PKK functionary Cemil Bayık explained in an interview: “The Kurds are now the most dynamic force in the Middle East. They fight most resolutely, they are best organized. Want to make in the region policy the Americans, they can not ignore it. […] How does America achieve its goals in the Middle East without the PKK? Without the Kurds? That will not do. How does Europe end without us its dependence on Russian gas? The path of the oil and natural gas to the Mediterranean Sea also runs through Rojava. If this route could be secured, even Europe could breathe again. ”
The PKK courting here to win the favor of the US and EU imperialism, offers itself as the better stakeholders in the Middle East. Next said the Ocalan Deputy that Turkey is “become a burden on the American and Europe. […] To a reshaping of the Middle East to achieve, the Kurdish issue must be resolved. ”
As the German War Minister von der Leyen 2014 announced that Germany was preparing for 4000 “Peshmerga fighters” of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government Massoud Barzani. It provided their use against the “Islamic State”. Because of the “peace process” in Turkey saw no danger that these weapons could be directed against the Turkish regime.
Rojava pact with US imperialism
Beyond the well known considerable ideological contradictions between the ruling in Rojava Kurds and the Iraqi Barzanikurden there is a commonality in ethnically defined nationalism and a willingness to ingratiate to achieve nationalist aims to imperialism as a lobbyist.
The main problem of US imperialism in Syria was the lack of “ground troops”, saying the armed forces, which could be based on significant parts of the population in Syria. The previous strategy was geared to recruit Islamist foreign mercenaries and to operate under different labels as “rebels”. These were partly right, well trained and armed partly via Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia. But this resulted in a high fragmentation of these forces, because the interests and the US lackeys Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia objectives are quite different. (Theocracy a la Muslim Brotherhood or a la Wahhabism / Islamic State). Currently occur this Kopfabschneidersöldner under the label of Al Qaeda with Turkish supply and as Islamic State with Saudi and Israeli. Here the Zionist entity occurs most open.
Major General Herzi Halevy, the head of the secret of the “only democracy in the Middle East”, the cornerstone of the defense of “Western community of values” surrounded by a sea medieval reaction, said so in June: “We do not want that ISIS in Syria defeated becomes”. He expressed concern about the current offensives against the IS, the selfsame have brought in the past three months in the most difficult situation since the proclamation of the Caliphate. A victory of the IS in Syria is that of an axis Damascus Tehran preferable in any case. Therefore it promotes ISIS more than ever in the form of direct military support.
http://news.antiwar.com/2016/06/21/israeli-intel-chief-we-dont-want-isis-defeated-in-syria/
US imperialism itself equips all mercenary units on the unintended consequence that they fight each other or get corrupted.
but this its strategy primarily led to extensive isolation of the Syrian population, the more resolutely the Assad government supported at the prospect of domination of takfiristischen Kopfabschneidern which has therefore nothing to fear less than elections.
In this situation, US imperialism went on to more and more to support the Kurds in Rojava. Although this had been suppressed in the past of the Arab nationalist Syrian government, they went in war a kind of alliance one with the Assad government. They made war are not mutually exclusive and cooperated against the mercenary groups. This brought benefits to both sides: While the Syrian government lost control over the northeast of the country, but questioned the Kurdish areas a buffer against Turkish mercenaries infiltrating represent Kurds widerum could in this power vacuum build a defacto independent state.. In addition, there are between two forces major political intersections as secularism or women’s rights. This proximity is being overshadowed by the respective ethnic nationalism that builds perspective difficult to overcome obstacles.
The alliance led to initial aspirations, with “moderate rebels” the FSA to unite against the Syrian Government to cooperate with Assad in the fight against the common Islamist mortal enemy who threatened their political intersections as well as their physical existence: secularism, limited bourgeois democracy , women’s rights and especially the respective ethnic nationalism, because Islamism is indeed ultra reactionary, but at the same internationalist.
Meanwhile western “tourists” went to Rojava to experience the “free commune” Rojava filled with CIA agents and American special forces. As the IS was before taking Kobane, it was the US Air Force, which contributed significantly to its defeat.
The obvious at first sight grounds for the Kurds for a “tactical alliance” with the US imperialism is the hope of a related protection against direct intervention of Erdoganregimes while before its destruction by the IS. In fact, the Kurds were the “red line” Erdogan, they should not cross over to the west, ignoring and distribute the IS from Mandbitsch the Euphrates. They pursued the strategic goal of creating a closed area in northern Syria Afrin to Iraq.
However, this would mean that the IS would have been completely cut off from supplies from Turkey. Apart from the fact that a Kurdish state on the southern border of Turkey is totally unacceptable for the Erdoganregime because of his charisma on the oppressed Kurds in southeast Turkey, a closed Kurdish region in northern Syria Erdogan would make the installation of several Islamist small states in Syria strategy naught. Without the presence of American troops in Rojava, it seemed, the Turks would have long invaded.
It should be mentioned in this connection that it is only partially is ethnically Kurdish areas in Rojava. In particular, the west of the Euphrates area around location Mandbitsch, Al Bab through to Kurdish enclave Afrin inhabited Arabic. The objective of a land connection of three isolated Kurdish settlement areas so disregards the self-determination of the Arab inhabitants in the name of Kurdish nationalism. The reflagging of the Kurdish armed arm YPD in SDF is cosmetically given the small number of Arabs in the SDF. If the nationalism of the Kurds not define ethnicity, but on substantive goals such as council democracy, secularism or socialism, these problems would not exist. But as the annexation of Arab territories Erdogan gives the opportunity to raise itself to advocate the Arabs with the demand that the Kurds would be to the east behind the Euphrates retire.
Turkish comrades wrote this : “An inescapable situation … A” Revolution “, an” autonomous region “within the borders of a country, which split the imperialist powers with all military force, divide and destabilize want to build with the help of these powers, neither the own population rid allowing even other nations an existence. Unconditional unit with the Syrian population in compliance with the self-determination, which has nothing to do with external forces, and was necessary”.
US imperialism tolerated hitherto the Kurdish strategy and focused on expanding its presence in Rojava. So it happened in the spring to install a first American military base in Sibat, 35 km south of Kobane. An official from Rojava commented : “The relationship between DGS and the US has been pushed even further … The building of the military base of the USA in Kobane is in the final phase. From this base of will launch military and logistical flights … The United States wants to have their centers in the regions near the war front. In this way they do not have to also be dependent on Turkey … The United States is planning to stay in this region and to support long Rojava. This is for PYD and the lead in Rojava an important step. “
It was primarily for the US imperialism is an important step that allowed him in defiance of international law and the territorial integrity of Syria, allegedly to carry out air strikes against IS in eastern Syria and so to control a part of Syria itself and a division of Syria a step nearer to.
Then it came recently to attacks by Kurdish “police units” against protected by Syrian government forces Arab enclave in the city Hasahkah east of Rojava. Claimed was, these attacks were from the Syrian government, and pursued their new strategic goal now Rojava attack as part of a new anti-Kurdish alliance between Assad and Erdogan. This is nothing but nonsensical propaganda because execute such an attack just from the small Arab enclave in Hasahkah not yield the least military sense as completely hopeless. After days already the Syrian units in Hasahkah had to capitulate. However, there were counter-attacks of the Syrian Air Force, which, although perfectly legitimate executed in its territory, have led to a confrontation with the US forces can result. The US imperialists also declared immediately, they would take “all necessary means” to defend its soldiers in Syria. The usual procedure accordingly: Only infiltrated to a country with its own military on the basis of an alliance with an ethnic minority, and then explains the attacks infiltrated state on his troops to “self-defense”.
The attacks in Hasahkah constitute a provocation of US imperialism, carried out by its Kurdish henchmen. Their aim was to end the current alliance of the Kurds with the Syrian government to build up a new front against this.
The political naivety of Kurds knew no bounds and culminated recently in the invitation to the US imperialism to establish a no-fly zone against the Syrian air force Rojava. Consider what function had fly zones of the imperialists in Libya. There had – as naive – Russia on such recessed to prevent a supposedly imminent massacre of the Libyan army in the population of Benghazi. In fact, the imperialists took advantage of the no-fly zone to bomb Libya quite up to the fall of his government. From this experience, Russia and China had learned the proclamation analog-fly zones by the UN Security Council not to agree in Syria.
If the Kurds really believed the US imperialists would just support their national revolution and approve the establishment of a Kurdish nation-state on the southern border of its NATO allies Turkey, they were now bitterly disappointed. There were and are the USA directly or called by their helpers Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel, Al Qaeda, IS and other Islamist militias launched, funded and fitting out military. Their aim was and is the overthrow of the Syrian government in the strategy to prevent the existence of any stable political entity in the Middle East. In particular, the goal is the destruction of the axis Iran, Syria and Russia. This strategy does not fit a Kurdish nation state. Although it would lead to a division of Syria and Iraq and hypothetically also of Iran, but also to such a Turkey. On the southeast flank of NATO, but one wishes – against Russia and its allies China stability and will therefore in spite of various attempts at destabilization not get involved in a partition of Turkey.
The strategy of US imperialism
For imperialism exploiting ethnic contradictions has always been a welcome means of its divide and rule policy. During World War I the British imperialists fanned with the disguised as archaeologists secret agent Lawrence (of Arabia) an uprising of the most reactionary Arab Feudalcliquen against the self regressive Ottoman Empire at or tsarist Russia incited the Christian Armenian population against the Ottoman Empire on. While the Christian population of the Ottoman Empire (Greeks and Armenians) more easily from propaganda and promises of “Christian” Entente Powers were lulled, resisted the Muslim Kurds these temptations and prospects of statehood more and fought in the subsequent War of Liberation (1919-23 ) in large numbers related to the secular Turkish patriots against the invaders (English, Italian, French, Greeks). After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, US imperialism encountered growing opposition with a strategy of fanning ethnic and religious contradictions. This led to a practical tripartite division of Iraq into a Kurdish north-east, a Sunni northwest and a Shiite south.
South of Turkey pursued by US imperialism’s strategy of generating many “failed states”, ie the conversion of particular States with a certain political broadcast in an area of rival warlords.
For this reason, the production of a closed structure Rojavas is not in the interests of US imperialism, as he wants to avoid a long-term weakening of the IS. He supported so explicitly the current international law, to establish the territorial integrity of Syria violating Turkish invasion in the west of the Euphrates, which aims between the Turkish cantons Afrin and Kobane a “safe zone” for al Qaeda and the supply route for the Islamic state to keep open , From this zone with Turkish ground the Syrian and Russian military from one wants to continue working for the downfall of the Syrian government.
There is currently much speculation about a new alliance of Putin and Erdogan. While it is in Russia’s interest, between Turkey and US imperialism to drive wedges, but these are the part of Erdogan only threats. Its primary goal as a Turkish chauvinist is the destruction of the Kurdish resistance and its secondary creeping Islamisation of Turkey as a basis for a similar all surrounding Muslim states. Given no strategic fit an alliance with Assad, who is a secular Arab nationalist regime. In addition, he will have to bow to the US strategy of Warlordisierung the region given the permanent threat of even an indirect support of the Kurds by the imperialists.
In the camp of the Kurds is now the complaints of a “betrayal of the United States’ large. A former member of the International Brigades from the United States made serious allegations: “The decision is a slap in the face of the Kurds. But not only against them, but also against the foreign volunteers, “said Erwin Stran the Kurdish news agency ” News Ara “ . Maoist volunteers were suddenly together with US special forces fighting on their uniforms YPG-Arms were sewn. The formerly active in the YPG Erwin Stran called the coverage of Washington for the Turkish invasion a “betrayal of the US government.” “The same air support, the Kurds in their struggle against the Islamic state, now supports an operation that will force the Kurds to retreat. Given its break the alliance with the Syrian government and its ally Russia to Rojava has gone into complete dependence on US imperialism. What you believe, then, who you got involved there? Has imperialism suddenly changed its nature? How naive you must be to believe, the predator that feeds you would not swallow a self well? Hundreds of fighters lost their lives in Mandbitsch in the liberation from the IS. In vain, because after the forced withdrawal of the Kurds from the Westeuphratgebiet it is only a matter of time until it will be conquered either by brought by Turkey in its invasion Al Kaidatruppen or by the Turkish military itself.
It applies in the Syrian government to a bourgeois Arab nationalist regime and Putin’s Russia pursues only its national interests in the struggle with US imperialism to influence zones and commodities. Nevertheless, a strategic alliance of the Kurds in Rojava with the Syrian government, Russia and Iran would success promising as such with the US imperialism, the main enemy of the peoples. This is especially less abstract-ideological ( “Russia is also an imperialism and with imperialists not allied to it”), but rather very concrete:
In a possible victory of the Syrian government and its allies the only possible political outcome would be a mulitethnischer and multi-religious secular state, which could not help as the Kurds concede some autonomy and to terminate their existing national oppression. This state would be a wholly bourgeois and, at best, with a form of bourgeois democracy, ie a multi-party parliamentary system. He would undoubtedly have most charisma in the Arab world and have anti-imperialist character because of its related content, for which he stands.
The Fourth Revolutionary War 