The Kurdish opposition bloc on April 6 walked out of the Syrian National Council at a meeting in Istanbul, after world leaders at the "Friends of Syria" summit urged the factions to unify. Syrian Kurdish opposition leader Abdul-Baki Yousef, a leader of the Kurdish Yakiti party, charged host country Turkey [2] of "pressuring the SNC" to omit the demands of the Kurdish members in the final document outlining a transition plan for Syria [3]. At the summit, Hillary Clinton pledged another $12 million in "humanitarian aid" to the Syrian opposition, although assembled leaders resisted calls from the SNC to arm the rebels. (Daily Star [4], Lebanon, April 6; McClatchy Newspapers [5], April 2)
The split comes as pressure is mounting on Turkey's own Kurds. A Turkish court on April 3 agreed to try 193 people accused of having links with the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK), which is allegedly the urban wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (Reuters [6], April 3) A Turkish soldier was killed and another was injured April 4 in clashes with PKK rebels in Hakkari province. The government claims 21 rebels were killed in clashes over the past month. (Daily Star [7], April 4)
Istanbul, Diyarbakir and Batman saw street clashes on March 18, when, tens of thousands of Kurds massed to celebrate the Kurdish new year Nowruz—in defiance of a government ban. Riot police backed by helicopters and armored personnel-carriers fired tear gas to disperse the crowds. One Kurdish leader and a Turkish police officer died, and hundreds of Kurds were arrested. After the street clashes, PKK commander Murat Karayilan [8] issued a call for civil resistance: "From here on we must stop serving in the Turkish army, paying taxes and using the Turkish language. A new phase has begun." (The Economist [9], March 24)
See our last posts on the Arab revolutions [10] and the Kurdish struggle [11].
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