Latest news with #UNHCRUSAID
Rudaw Net
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
Rojava demands answers from Damascus after Kurds arrested in Afrin
Also in Syria Damascus has no problem with Kurds: Analyst 4 arrested in Afrin for raising Kurdistan flag 270,000 Syrian refugees return home: UNHCR USAID suspension worsens conditions in Rojava camps: Watchdog A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Saturday demanded 'formal clarification' from the new Syrian leadership about the entry of Damascus-affiliated security forces into Afrin, after which four Kurds were arrested. 'A convoy of Aleppo-affiliated security forces entered Afrin' on Thursday and 'withdrew from it without explanation,' spokesperson of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) Kamal Akif said in a statement. After the forces departed, 'Afrin witnessed widespread arrests of those who went out to welcome the members of the public security forces,' Akif added. He described the developments in the Kurdish majority city as 'suspicious and worrisome' and warned that they could 'exacerbate the suffering of our people who are living under occupation.' The DAANES demanded 'formal clarification' from Damascus over the incident. Four young Kurdish men were arrested after raising the Kurdistan flag during a spontaneous reception of the security forces, according to a local monitor, Human Rights Organization-Afrin. The Syrian interior ministry confirmed on Thursday the arrival of its forces in Afrin but did not specify the reason for the visit. Informed sources told Rudaw that it was part of a tour of the region. Afrin is a Kurdish majority region in northwest Syria that has been under the control of militia groups that seized the area seven years ago. Many families were displaced and the militias have committed numerous violations against the Kurdish population that remained, drawing international condemnation. In its statement, DAANES emphasized the importance of making 'the return of the people of Afrin to their regions a top priority.'
Rudaw Net
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
Damascus has no problem with Kurds: Analyst
Also in Syria 4 arrested in Afrin for raising Kurdistan flag 270,000 Syrian refugees return home: UNHCR USAID suspension worsens conditions in Rojava camps: Watchdog SDF could be 'significant asset' for Syrian army: Brigade spokesperson A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurds and the new Syrian administration have very different aspirations for the country, but the biggest threat for Kurds comes from Ankara, not Damascus, a Russian analyst said. 'I don't believe that Damascus will want to control the Kurds by force. Damascus is not in that position. The Kurds, as I correctly understand, have no issues with Damascus,' Fyodor Lukyanov, research director of the Valdai Discussion Club and chairman of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, told Rudaw's Kamiz Shadadi on Thursday. Many Syrians and foreign powers are worried that the new government may impose strict Islamic rule and threaten minority groups such as Kurds, Druze, Christians, and Alawites. The Kurdish-controlled northeast and the Druze in the south of Syria, therefore, have remained adamant about their vision of federalism and decentralization, despite the new Islamist authorities in Damascus vehemently rejecting the prospect - at times labeling it a 'red line.' Last week, SDF chief Mazloum Abdi told the Associated Press that their vision for Syria is a 'decentralized, secular, and civil country based on democracy that preserves the rights of all its components.' Abdi stressed that the Kurds want to remain in Syria as part of a united country. Damascus wants to bring the northeast under its control through negotiation. 'We are not inclined toward a military solution,' Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra told the Washington Post last week. Kurds in Syria have bigger issues with Ankara, according to Lukyanov. 'How Turkey will act, what goals it will set for itself, that will be the determining factor,' he said. Ankara claims that the People's Protection Units (YPG) - the backbone of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - is the Syrian front for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a designated terrorist group in Turkey. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan last week ruled out federalism in Syria and said Damascus will either expel PKK members from the country or 'eliminate them.'
Rudaw Net
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
4 arrested in Afrin for raising Kurdistan flag
Also in Syria 270,000 Syrian refugees return home: UNHCR USAID suspension worsens conditions in Rojava camps: Watchdog SDF could be 'significant asset' for Syrian army: Brigade spokesperson ENKS withdraws from Syrian opposition coalition A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Four young Kurdish men were arrested in Afrin on Friday, a day after they raised the Kurdistan flag during a spontaneous reception for security forces affiliated with the new leadership in Damascus, according to a local human rights monitor. 'Members of the Military Police, affiliated with the [National] Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, arrested the four young men in Afrin for raising the Kurdistan flag during the arrival of the Syrian government's security forces,' said Human Rights Organization-Afrin. One of the men has been identified as Mohammad Abdul Qader Ahmed from the district of Jindires in the Afrin countryside. The names of the others have not been published. The four were arrested in the early morning hours on Friday and taken to an undisclosed location, the organization said. The Syrian interior ministry confirmed on Thursday the arrival of its forces in Afrin but did not specify the reason for the visit. Informed sources told Rudaw that the convoy's visit was part of a tour of the region. A number of Kurds in Afrin welcomed the visiting forces, raising the flags of Kurdistan and Syria to express their joy about the possibility that various armed factions could cede control of the area to the new government. For seven years, the militia groups have committed numerous violations against the Kurdish people in Afrin, drawing international condemnation.
