UCDP

General information

Part of Conflict: Syria: Rojava Kurdistan

Date of first stated goals of incompatibility: 2003-09-20
Comment on date of first stated goal of incompatibility: PYD was formed by the Turkish armed group PKK on 20 September 2003. The group has followed Abdullah Öcalan's teachings and has stated that they aim at establishing a state, based on democratic confederalism and that they have the right to attack the government in self-defense.

According to a statement in March 2004 the group, wanted to achieve a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish problem. The group presented 11 points pointing out their solution:

the acknowledgment of the Kurdish nation by the constitution,
the reinforcement of the organized forces and the participation of Kurds in all national institutions.
to guarantee the freedom of political parties and waive their prohibition,
to enable the Kurds to get into the municipal administration in Kurdish areas in their control
the acknowledgment of the Kurdish language and the Kurdish culture,
to guarantee the freedom of press in Kurdish language and strengthen it by using national forces,
the establishment of Kurdish cultural centers and the protection of the historical monuments.
to waive the so-called special people census and the plan "the Arab belt", to give the agricultural land back to their original owners. Further, to solve the problems of the so-called foreigners and to give them the Syrian nationality. Furthermore, the victims of the terror must be compensated.
the Party of the Democratic Alliance considers its own development as a component of the development of the democracy in Syria.
to make the Kurdish language to Kurds available at schools,
Places, in which predominantly Kurds live (e.g. Kamischli, Ifrien, Kobani) must be regarded as Kurdish. The cities, which were given Arab names should be given back their old Kurdish names.“

On their web-page the group presented their goals as: The party of democratic unity PYD adopts the theory of social democracy aechology and gender liberty, and the democratic unity, the democratic socialism is the strategy for its struggle work line. It is a national publican political party, refuse the chauvinistic concepts and attitudes, and believe in equality and the freedom of belief. And adopts the public legal compete as a basis to deal with the cases recognized in the program by democratic ways and political debate. And concentrate on the social classes and categories, and the social civil organizations in Syria, specially the exerted and educated classes on the basis of free citizenship principle. Youth and women occupy the advanced position in it. To solving the Kurdish question on the basis of democratic change in Syria. And organizing the society in west Kurdistan on a confederal democratic basis, struggling for brotherhood among nations and ethnics in a free united framework, supporting the liberty democratic struggle in all Kurdistan parts, and solving the question of national union on the basis of Kurdistan democratic confederation without narrowing the political borders, And working for the democratic middle-east union confederation, moving forward to build the aechological democratic gender library society as a part of the democratic communist humanity.”

The armed wing of PYD the YPG was probably formed in 2004 but did not appear on the scene until the protests started in 2011 and officially announced its existence on 19 July 2012 when the group assumed control over Kurdish areas in northern Syria.

Date of first use of armed force: 2011-09-07
Comment on date of first use of armed force: According to PYD the group supported the Qamishli uprising in March 2004. PYD argued that this event was the catalyst for forming an armed group, but UCDP does not consider these events as directly launched by PYD and therefore they are not seen as the first use of armed force. Qamishli uprising started out as a soccer riot, continued as the Kurdish mob burned down the Ba'ath Party local office and toppled a statue of Hafez al-Assad. The Syrian army answered harshly with tanks, troops and helicopters. Leading to solidarity rallies and demonstrations in other Kurdish cities.

PYD has never explicitly stated that they wan't to achieve their goal with violent means, rather the opposite they prefer a democratic change. However according to the group's teachings they have the right to attack the government in self-defense, therefore they often attack in retaliation of what they see as government attacks on their territory. On 7 September 2011 the regime bombed the Kurdish neigbourhood Sheik Maskood in Aleppo prompting PYD retaliation. Three days later PYD killed three soldiers in Afrin town.

In July 2012 PYD also managed to oust the government from areas in Syria with a large Kurdish population.“We said to the government forces, ‘You should go out and leave in 12 hours or 24 hours; otherwise we will start fighting you,’" in the areas of PYD control the group began setting up self-governance institutions. Most territory was captured peacefully but clashes was reported between the Syrian government and PYD in Qamishli as PYD tried to "liberate the city peacefully". The government of Syria also shelled the Sheik Maqsood neigbourhood of Aleppo and area controlled by PYD.

First Battle Related Death: 2011-09-07
Comment on First Battle Related Death: In September 2011 the regime bombed the Kurdish neigbourhood Sheikh Maqsood in Aleppo prompting PYD retaliation. on 10 September PYD killed three soldiers in Afrin town.

Date when dyad reached 25 battle releated deaths: 2012-09-07
Comment on date when dyad reached 25 battle related deaths: The conflict between the government of Syria and PYD first became active in UCDP data on 7 September 2012. The first deaths in the conflict occurred when PYD at numerous occasions retaliated for government airstrikes on Sheik Maqsood but clashes also occurred in Qamishli.

Conflict issues

Conflict Goal Issues: The Partiya Yektîya Demokrat, Democratic Union Party, (PYD) was a socialist Kurdish-separatist movement that emerged in 2003 with the release of the “PYD Bylaws”. The group was closely related to the Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (PKK) in Turkey. Both groups shared the common goal of establishing an autonomous Kurdistan and protecting the rights of Kurdish people. In its stated bylaws, PYD called for a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue and for the support of the “democratic liberation struggle in all parts of Kurdistan in order to achieve and consolidate Kurdish national unity”. In this statement, they also emphasized communal federalism, rather than complete autonomy or independence. PYD also stated its intentions to establish a socialist economic system and emphasized its intent to achieve gender equality.

As the conflict progressed, these issues would be continuously mentioned and frequently receive heavy emphasis. Furthermore, several new issues would emerge in statements, although many of these were just stated in singular instances and will not be mentioned. Towards the end of the conflict, PYD would stop emphasizing federalism and issues of confederation, and instead begin calling for the establishment of an autonomous Kurdistan. They also began calling for citizenship reforms, particularly calling for constitutional recognition of Kurdish people and the Kurdish nation, and for other nationalities residing within Syria to be recognized. They also continuously called for civil-, language-, cultural-, and gender rights to be respected, particularly those of Kurdish people. They also called for freedom of expression and freedom of association to be respected and protected within Syria. Finally, PYD called for reforms to the executive-, parliamentary-, military-, and judicial structures, calling for the separation of them “so that each of them operates according to the specific functions and tasks she has.”

Throughout the conflict, PYD continuously and frequently emphasized certain issues. The establishment of a democratic system in Syria and in Kurdistan, and the implementation of constitutional amendments which would recognize the rights of Kurdish people and the existence of an autonomous Kurdistan were heavily emphasized by the group throughout the conflict. The rights of the Kurdish people were also a main issue for the group, as this formed the foundation of the other main issues pronounced by the group.

Conflict Dynamics Issues: During the year of its emergence, PYD called for the release of prisoners, when the group, in their bylaws, called for the release of Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK.

As the conflict progressed, the group called for releasing prisoners once more, this time relating to the “hundreds of the party’s members” who had been imprisoned by the Syrian regime. The group also called for the return of exiled people to Syria and Kurdistan on one occasion. Throughout the later stages of the conflict, PYD continuously called for the cessation of human rights abuses by the government and the Syrian security services, with allegations of torture, massacres, and alleging that these were motivated by political adherence to PYD.

The main conflict dynamics issue for PYD were the continuously emphasized allegations of torture and abuse towards its party members by Syrian forces and security services, as this was frequently mentioned throughout the conflict with heavy emphasis.

Conflict Resolution Issues: Whilst PYD stated no conflict resolution issues during its first year of existence, the group stated several issues as the conflict emerged. For the duration of the conflict, PYD made occasional calls pertaining to conflict resolution issues. On two occasions, the group called for compensation for Kurdish victims of terror and abuse. The group also called for national dialogue to be initiated, calling for all sectors to be included in a national conference to resolve Syrian issues. On one occasion, PYD also called for a “comprehensive amnesty for all political detainees and prosecuted political figures”.

As no conflict resolution issue was particularly emphasized, nor continuously stated throughout the conflict, no main issue was attributed to the group.

Type of conflict issues: Conflict Goal Issues: Autonomy, Basic needs, Bureaucratic setup, Revenues from natural resources, Rule of law, Change a specific law, Change economic system, Change of administrative divisions, Childrens rights, Citizenship reforms, Civil rights, Confederation/union, Constitutional issues, CPS: Democracy, Cultural rights, Decentralization, Economic reforms, Education system: culture, Federalism, Foreign policy reform, Freedom of association, Freedom of expression, Freedom of movement, Gender rights, Hold elections, Human rights, Labor rights, Land reforms, Language rights, Law and order, Oust full executive, Oust head of the executive, Parliamentary power-sharing, Protection of cultural heritage, Protection of natural resources/the environment, Public services, Recognition as a political party, Reform executive structure, Reform judicial system, Reform parliament, Religious rights, Restructure military forces

Conflict Dynamics Issues: Atrocities and abuses, Collective targeting: other group, Collective targeting: political, Release of prisoners, Return of refugees/IDPs

Conflict Resolution Issues: Amnesties, Compensation/restoration, National dialogue

Annual information

This section contains annual information systematically collected by the UCDP.