People's Protection Units

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People's Protection Units
Yekîneyên Parastina Gel (YPG)
‏وحدات حماية الشعب‎‎
People's Protection Units Flag.svg
YPG flag
Active 2011–present
Allegiance Rojava, Syria[1] (Democratic Union Party)
Type Light infantry militia
Size 50,000[2]
Part of Syrian Democratic Forces
Motto YPG dimeşe, erd û ezman diheje (YPG is marching, and the earth and sky [or heavens] tremble)
Engagements

Syrian Civil War

Iraqi insurgency

Website Official website
Commanders
General Commander Sipan Hemo
Spokesperson Rêdûr Xelîl
Spokesperson Khebat Ibrahim
Notable
commanders
Nujin Dirik (Aleppo commander)
Giwan Ibrahim (Qamishli commander)
Cemşîd Osman (Ras al-Ayn commander)
Roshna Akeed (Ras al-Ayn commander)
Current military situation in the Syrian Civil War
Rojava territory controlled by the YPG in June 2015
YPG members during the 2015 Tell Abyad offensive

The People's Protection Units (Kurdish: Yekîneyên Parastina Gel‎, pronounced [jɑkinæjen pɑrɑstinɑ gæl], abbreviated as YPG), also known as People's Defense Units, are the main armed service of the Kurdish Supreme Committee, the government of Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava). The YPG are primarily Kurdish, but also recruit Arabs,[3][4] Turks and westerners, and there are Assyrian/Syriac Christian units integrated into its command structure (Sutoro and Syriac Military Council).

The YPG have become a major opponent of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). They have co-operated with Syrian opposition fighters against ISIL, but have avoided engaging forces of the Syrian government, which controls several non-Kurdish enclaves in Kurdish territory.

The nature of links between the YPG and the controversial PKK in Turkish Kurdistan (North Kurdistan) is disputed.

The YPG were originally formed in 2004 by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Southern Kurdistan (i.e. northern Iraq)[5][6] and were transferred to the service of the Kurdish Supreme Committee (which includes the PYD) in 2012. The group initially took a defensive posture in the Syrian Civil War.[5][7]

In July 2012, the YPG had a standoff with Syrian government forces in the Kurdish city of Kobanî and the surrounding areas. After negotiations, government forces withdrew and the YPG took possession of Kobanî, Amuda and Afrin.[8][9] By December 2012 they had expanded to eight brigades, which were formed in Al-Qamishli, Kobanî and Ras al-Ayn and the districts of Afrin, Al-Malikiyah and Al-Bab.[10]

Conflict broke out between the YPG and Islamists in 2013 after they expelled a group of jihadists from Ras al-Ayn.[11]

In 2014, the YPG collaborated with the Free Syrian Army in order to fight against ISIL in Ar-Raqqah province.[12] The group has also formed an operations room with multiple FSA factions called Euphrates Volcano.[13] In February 2015, the YPG signed a judicial agreement with the Levant Front in Aleppo.[14] In their campaign against ISIL, the YPG have begun making advances into Arab areas, such as the border town of Tell Abyad in June 2015.[15]

The YPG considers itself a democratic people's army and conducts internal elections as a method of appointing officers.[16]

The YPJ[edit]

The Women's Protection Units (Women's Defense Units) are the YPG's female units. The YPJ was set up in 2012. Kurdish media have said that YPJ troops became vital during the Siege of Kobanî.[17]

Kurdish control of Til Koçer[edit]

In October 2013, YPG fighters took control of Til Koçer in Syria following severe clashes with ISIL.

The clashes lasted about three days. The Til Koçer border gate was taken in a major offensive launched on the night of 24 October.[18]

PYD leader Saleh Muslim told Stêrk TV that the developments in Til Koçer would lead to changes in the political and economic situation in the Kurdish controlled portion of Syria, and that this success created an alternative against efforts to hold the territory under embargo.[18]

Foreign volunteers[edit]

On 21 October 2014, YPG launched the "Lions of Rojava" Facebook page as a recruitment center for foreign volunteers.[19][20] At least ten U.S. volunteers have fought alongside the YPG, including three U.S. Army veterans,[21][22][23][24] as has at least one Canadian Army veteran.[25]

Dozens of non-Kurdish Turks (from both Turkey and the European diaspora) have also joined.[21] Many are members of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP), which has been sending volunteers to fight in the YPG since 2012, at least four of whom have been killed in battle as of February 2015—one during the Battle of Ras al-Ayn and three during the Siege of Kobanî. The MLKP has also declared its intention to form a leftist international brigade within the YPG, modelled after the International Brigades who fought in the Spanish Civil War.[26] The party released a video in late January 2015 showing several Spanish- and German-speaking volunteers from Europe among its ranks in Jazira Canton; they were reorganized into the International Freedom Battalion on 10 June 2015.[27]

Several Australians, including former trade unionist and politician Matthew Gardiner,[28] have been involved with the YPG despite threats by Australia to prosecute any citizens involved in the Syrian Civil War.[29] On 26 February 2015, the death of the first foreign volunteer to be killed in action with the YPG was announced.[30] Ashley Johnston, 28, of Canberra, had travelled to Syrian Kurdistan in October 2014, volunteered as a humanitarian aid worker, and later decided to serve as a front-line fighter with the YPG.[29][31][32]

Foreign aid[edit]

The YPG received 27 bundles totaling 24 tons of small arms and ammunition as well as 10 tons of medical supplies from the U.S. and Iraqi Kurdistan during the Siege of Kobanî. On October 11, 2015, the YPG received by airdrop from USAF planes 120 tons of supplies and ammunition from the United States in order to fight ISIS north of Raqqa.[33][34]

War crimes allegations[edit]

In June 2015 the UN said it had verified that 24 children under age eighteen had been recruited by YPG, as compared to 288 by the Free Syrian Army and 25 by Nusra Front.[35] The same month, Kurdish security forces (YPG and Asayish) began getting human-rights training from Geneva Call and other international organizations.[36]

In October 2015, Amnesty International said YPG had driven thousands of civilians from northern Syria and destroyed their homes in retaliation for perceived links to the ISIS. According to Amnesty, YPG fighters had threatened some civilians by telling them that if they failed to leave, YPG would have the U.S. coalition bomb their homes.[37][38] YPG denied accusations of forced displacements;[38][39] it said most civilians had left to escape fighting and were welcome to return.[40] The U.S. State Department has begun an inquiry into the veracity of Amnesty's allegations.[41]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "PYD announces surprise interim government in Syria's Kurdish regions". Rudaw. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2014. 
  2. ^ Perry, Tom (15 August 2015). "Syrian Kurds now say they now control territory the size of Qatar and Kuwait combined". Business Insider. 
  3. ^ Meseguer, David (9 February 2013). "Arabs join Kurdish militia in Aleppo". Firat News Agency. Retrieved 9 October 2014. 
  4. ^ Smith, Hannah Lucinda (23 December 2013). "The Boy who Grew up to Betray his Village". Asharq Al-Awsat. Retrieved 9 October 2014. 
  5. ^ a b Gold, Danny (31 October 2012). "Meet the YPG, the Kurdish militia that doesn't want help from anyone". VICE. Retrieved 9 October 2014. A member of YPG’s central command … said that the YPG formed in 2004 shortly after the Qamishlo riots, when a number of Kurdish youth realized that they needed to be able to defend themselves more efficiently. They did not officially declare themselves until the revolution started in 2011. 
  6. ^ van Wilgenburg, Wladimir (5 April 2013). "Conflict intensifies in Kurdish area of Syria". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 9 October 2014. 
  7. ^ "YPG Commander: Kurds Are Bulwark Against Islamic Extremism in Syria". Rudaw. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2014. 
  8. ^ Ahmed, Hevidar (25 July 2012). "Liberated Kurdish cities in Syrian Kurdistan move into next phase". Rudaw (Erbil, Iraq). Retrieved 28 July 2012. 
  9. ^ "Kurds Give Ultimatum to Syrian Security Forces". Rudaw. 21 July 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2014. 
  10. ^ "The Kurdish Protection Units have formed a new brigade in the Al–Bab region". Scientia Humana. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2013. Kurdish Information Center 
  11. ^ "Kurds expel jihadists from flashpoint Syrian town: NGO". AFP. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2015. 
  12. ^ "FSA and YPG cooperate against ISIL militants in Syria's Tel Abyad". ARA News. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014. 
  13. ^ "YPG and FSA form a joint military chamber to combat ISIS in Syria". ARA News. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014. 
  14. ^ "KURDISH YPG AND JABHAT AL-SHAMIYA AGREEMENT ON JUDICIARY COOPERATION IN ALEPPO". Syrian Rebellion Observatory. 5 February 2015. 
  15. ^ Pitarakis, Lefteris; Mroue, Bassem (14 June 2015). "Thousands of Syrians flee into Turkey amid intense fighting". AP. Thousands of Syrians cut through a border fence and crossed over into Turkey … fleeing intense fighting … between Kurdish fighters and jihadis. 
  16. ^ Ahmad, Rozh (6 August 2012). "A rare glimpse into Kurdish armed forces in Syrian Kurdistan". Rudaw (Erbil, Iraq). 
  17. ^ "Kurdish women turning Kobani into a living 'hell' for Islamic State". teleSUR. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014. 
  18. ^ a b "YPG takes control of Til Koçer". Firat News Agency. 27 October 2013. 
  19. ^ "The Lions of Rojava". Facebook. Retrieved 15 November 2014. 
  20. ^ "Kobani Kurds Use Facebook To Recruit Foreign Fighters In Struggle Against IS". Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014. 
  21. ^ a b "Western "comrades" join Kurds, Arabs, secularists, Yezidis, and Syriac Christians against Islamic State". Your Middle East. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2015. 
  22. ^ "Exclusive: American explains why he's fighting ISIL". USA Today. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014. 
  23. ^ "The US volunteers who fight with Syria's Kurds". BBC. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014. 
  24. ^ "A Divorced Father-of-Two from Ohio Is Fighting the Islamic State in Syria". Vice News. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2015. 
  25. ^ Stewart Bell (23 February 2015). "Second Canadian vet battling ISIS: Brandon Glossop felt need to go after Ottawa, Quebec attacks". National Post. Retrieved 9 July 2015. 
  26. ^ Demir, Arzu (28 January 2015). "Preparations for international brigade in Rojava". Firat News Agency. Retrieved 11 February 2015. 
  27. ^ "Enternasyonal devrimciler: Her dilden devrimi savunuyoruz" (in Turkish). Etkin Haber Ajansı. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015. 
  28. ^ "Matthew Gardiner confirmed to be fighting Islamic State with Kurds". NTNews. Retrieved 9 July 2015. 
  29. ^ a b "Australian man defends his actions fighting against Islamic State". Xinhua (Beijing). 11 June 2015. Former international junior bench press champion Ashley Dyball … wrote on Facebook, ‘The s--- you see here is nothing like you see on the bias news reports, the Islamic state must be stopped and if it means I can’t come home f--- it.’ … Dyball faces prosecution if he returns. 
  30. ^ Michael Safi, " Kurdish militia pays tribute to Ashley Johnston, killed fighting with its forces", The Guardian, 2 March 2015.
  31. ^ "British Chinese volunteer fighting alongside Kurds against ISIS in Syria becomes a weibo hero". South China Morning Post. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015. 
  32. ^ Volunteers from China, US and UK join Kurdish forces to fight ISIS (photos)
  33. ^ "PUKmedia یەکێتیی نیشتمانیی کوردستان". pukmedia.com. 
  34. ^ "لاهور شێخ جه‌نگی‌: چاوه‌ڕوانی مژده‌ و به‌ هیوای گۆڕانكاریی گه‌وره‌بن". xendan.org. 
  35. ^ U.N. Security Council (5 June 2015). Report of the Secretary-General: Children and armed conflict (Report). para. 191. Actual numbers are expected to be higher.... A number of pro-Government groups, including Hizbullah, also reportedly recruited children in small numbers. 
  36. ^ Perry, Tom; Malla, Naline (10 September 2015). "Western states train Kurdish force in Syria, force's leader says". Reuters. Amnesty International this month faulted the Kurdish administration for arbitrary detentions and unfair trials.... [Ciwan] Ibrahim said ... efforts were underway to improve its human rights record.... The Geneva Call ... promotes good treatment of civilians in war zones... 
  37. ^ "Syria: US ally’s razing of villages amounts to war crimes". Amnesty International. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015. 
  38. ^ a b "Syria Kurds 'razing villages seized from IS' - Amnesty". BBC News. 13 October 2015. Of 225 buildings visible [in Husseiniya] in June 2014, only 14 were still standing by June 2015. 
  39. ^ "Arab tribes in Syrian Kurdistan say Amnesty Int'l distorts the truth". Ekurd Daily News. 
  40. ^ Coskun, Orhan (13 October 2015). "Turkey warns U.S., Russia against backing Kurdish militia in Syria". Reuters. Turkey has accused the Kurdish militia of pursuing 'demographic change'.... Ankara fears ultimately the creation of an independent Kurdish state.... Amnesty International ... accused the YPG ... of ... driving out thousands of non-Kurdish civilians and destroying their homes. 
  41. ^ "US voices concern over allegations of rights violations by YPG". 14 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015. 

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