Kurdish National Council

History

The Kurdish National Council was founded in Hawler on 26 October 2011, under the sponsorship of Kurdish Regional Government President Massoud Barzani, following the earlier creation of the Syrian National Council. The organisation was originally composed of 11 Syrian Kurdish parties, however by May 2012 this had grown to 15.

Several KNC parties have also on occasion come into conflict with other Kurdish groups like the Democratic Union Party (PYD). In order to reduce tensions, Massoud Barzani mediated between the two groups in July 2012 at a diplomatic meeting in Hawler. As a result, the PYD and some other Kurdish groups joined with the Kurdish National Council to form the Kurdish Supreme Committee along with a popular defence force to defend Syrian Kurdistan. The agreement became obsolete when the PYD with several pro-federal Kurdish parties abandoned the coalition after they accused the KNC of allying with Syrian rebels that were attacking Kurdish cities. Later, the PYD with other Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian parties made a deal for the aim of creating a polyethnic and progressive society and polity in the Rojava region, creating the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM).

Criticism and conflict with the PYD

Kurdish National Council has been widely criticized in Syrian Kurdistan. The KNC has been accused of working with Turkey and the Syrian Salafist opposition forces against the Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava (NSR). In 2016, some KNC leaders and members were accused of corruption, money laundering, spying, making propaganda for Turkey and involving in assassinations of NSR authorities and politicians. The KNC have several times formally refused to join the NSR administration and cooperating with other political parties. The KNC leader Ibrahim Biro said in his interview on Turkish pro-government Sabah newspaper that his council will never accept the PYD and asked all Western countries to start supporting their own forces instead of PYD and other NSR entities.

The KNC members and leaders have several times kept meetings with Turkish authorities for seeking cooperation against the PYD and other Kurdish political parties that Turkey sees as a threat. In 2016, the KNC asked Turkey to support them against the US-backed Kurdish militia, People's Protection Units.

There have been several demonstrations held by KNC supporters against the Federation of Northern Syria and PYD particularly. Many experts have had difficulties to understand the KNC. Carl Drott, a sociology researcher at the University of Oxford, said in his interview on Ara News that "it is hard to know what the KNC actually wants. There is a fundamental contradiction between the Kurdish nationalist ideology of the KNC and the political project of its Syrian allies (Syrian opposition). Sometimes it seems that the only consistent policy of the KNC is to oppose anything that the PYD does". The PYD members have described the KNC as "an enemy of the peoples of Syria."

On 13 August 2016, Asayish arrested Ibrahim Biro, leader of the KNC and the Kurdish Union (Yekîtî) Party, in Qamishli and took him to an unknown location. At the same day, reporter Wedat Hussein Ali who was working for Roj tv, a TV channel linked to the PKK, had been killed in KDP-controlled area. Some ARA News journalists alluded that the two incidents might be linked to the rivalry between the PKK and KDP, which support the PYD and KNC, respectively. After Biro's detention, dozens who belonged to Yekîtî Party, organized a sit-in in front of the city's PYD office to condemn the arrest, while PYD supporters took the South Kurdistan flag, symbol of both KNC as well as KDP, from the Yekîtî Party's office in southern Qamishli. Biro was released the next day, claiming that he had been detained for the KNC's "political activities" and that the PYD would fail, because "it is impossible for the people of Syria to accept another dictatorship." He subsequently sought asylum in Dohuk with the KDP, though he said he would return to Rojava.

According to SOHR, the Asayish arrested further Yekîtî Party and KDPS members in Amuda and the Afrin Canton on 16 August, most prominently Yekîtî politician Anwar Naso. The arrests prompted further sit-ins and protests by KNC supporters. Most of the arrested KNC members, among them Anwar Naso, were released a few hours later. The rest of them were released on 24 November 2016.

After the outbreak of the Battle of al-Hasakah between pro-government and pro-PYD forces on the same day of August 2016, the KNC condemned the Syrian government for their attacks on civilians and urged both sides to stop fighting. At the same time, however, KNC politicians also said that the PYD should allow the Rojava Peshmerga into the city to protect the Kurdish population and that, at best, the government should be driven from Rojava.

On 19 September, the Syrian Yazidi Council left both the KNC as well as the Syrian National Council after months of tension over the "failure to acknowledge the SNC's Arabism and Islamism problems" and the lack of representation for Yazidis within the Syrian opposition.

On 25 October, the Kurdish National Council condemned the "indiscriminate" Turkish bombings on populated towns such as Jandairis and other towns in the northern Aleppo Governorate. The council stated that “the Turkish Army and allied Islamist rebels have been killing civilians, carrying out indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes on populated areas.” and demanded the Turkish Armed Forces to withdraw its forces. A KNC member also denounced the Turkish focus on attacking the Syrian Democratic Forces as part of the Turkish military intervention in Syria.

On 24 November, Asayish released some KNC politicians and many activists with the rest to be released "in the following days". Zara Salih of the Yekîtî Party said that his party saw “this first step as a positive sign and a good start” and that his party's leadership is “ready to begin negotiations with PYD and the Movement for a Democratic Society, to reach a new deal.”

Ideology

Although the KNC has joined the Syrian National Coalition, there are key differences between the KNC and the SNC over their approach to the issue of decentralization, with the KNC pressing for Kurdish autonomy, whereas the SNC has rejected anything more than administrative decentralization. The issue of federalism and autonomy is also a point of contention for KNC and PYD, even though both parties have very similar aims. As such, the KNC condemned the PYD's declaration of a federation in northern Syria as an attempt to break up Syria without previous "debate and democratic participation". The KNC further stated that "it strictly opposes any attempt to impose federalism on the Syrian people without a preceding discussion". These statements have raised confusion among observers, with Carl Drott, a sociology researcher at the University of Oxford, commenting that "It is hard to know what the KNC actually wants. There is a fundamental contradiction between the Kurdish nationalist ideology of the KNC and the political project of its Syrian allies. Sometimes it seems that the only consistent policy of the KNC is to oppose anything that the PYD does." It should be noted, however, that Syrian Kurdish refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan, who mostly support the KNC, are also critical of the federalism declaration. Many of them fear that further tensions in Syria would arise as result of the declaration, while they simply wish for an end of hostilities. Despite these divisions about how to implement Kurdish autonomy, the KNC still generally supports federalism. This was shown when Syrian opposition leader Michel Kilo outright condemned any attempt of Kurds to establish federalism in Syria, negatively comparing them to Israel. The KNC reacted to the statement in which it accused Kilo of racism and acting to please Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey. Nevertheless, the KNC also argued that the Kurds still had friends among the Syrian National Coalition, thereby reiterating their general support for the Syrian opposition.

Military wing

The KNC leader claimed that partially in response to the military power of the PYD, the KNC formed its own paramilitary wing, the Rojava Peshmerga. Ibrahim Biro claimed that Rojava Peshmergas were mostly recruited from Syrian Kurdish refugees and Syrian Army deserters in northern Iraq. Trained by Iraqi Peshmerga and Zeravani under Major General Bahjat Taymas, the milita has a claimed strength of 3,000 fighters by June 2016. Their primary purpose is to defend Kurdish areas, and to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

According to Kurdishpolicy, an independent public policy institute, more than 5,000 Rojava Peshmergas were funded and trained by Turkey to be used against the PYD-ruled Kurdish autonomy in Syria. It was seen as an attempt to gain leverage by empowering opposition Kurds against the PYD.

Due to the tensions between PYD and KNC, and low manpower comparing to the People's Protection Units, the Rojava Peshmerga haven't been able to enter in Syria. In course of the Siege of Kobanî, the KNC offered to send 200 fighters to support the city's defenses, but was rejected by the PYD as the latter wanted all Kurdish units to fight as part of the YPG and YPJ. The KNC leader claimed that the YPG even hindered the KNC's Peshmerga who had been trained in Iraqi Kurdistan from entering Rojava at all. Since the formation of the Syrian Democratic Forces, YPG officials have declared, however, that KNC fighters are generally welcome to join the alliance. Despite discussions about possibly joining, the KNC has so far rejected military cooperation with pro-PYD forces. Ibrahim Biro stated as reasons for this that "they [the SDF] have a good relation with the Syrian regime, that's why we cannot join them." Despite their tensions with the PYD, however, the KNC has also rejected inquires of Syrian opposition groups to send the Rojava Peshmerga to Azaz to defend the city against both ISIL as well as YPG during the Northern Aleppo offensive. Bahjat Taymas declared that the Rojava Peshmerga "don’t want to fight Kurds, only ISIS."

Currently, the Rojava Peshmerga are mostly fighting ISIL in Iraq.

On 2nd March 2017, Rojava Peshmerga forces attacked Yezidi militia affiliated to the YBS in Sinjar resulting in the deaths of five as well as two militants affiliated to the PKK who attempted to prevent the clashes. At least four peshmerga were also injured in the clashes.