2004 Qamishli riots

2004 Qamishli riots
2004 Qamishli riots
Date	12 March 2004
Location	Qamishli, al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria
Caused by	Clashes between rival football fans
Resulted in	Massacre by the Syrian Army Thousands of Kurds flee to Iraqi Kurdistan;
Parties
Syrian Government Syrian Army; Syrian Police; Supported by:; Arab tribes	Kurdish protesters; Democratic Union Party (PYD)
Lead figures
	Bashar al-Assad Mashouq al-Khaznawi
Casualties
Death(s)	30+
Injuries	100+
Arrested	2,000+

The 2004 Qamishli riots were an uprising by Syrian Kurds in the northeastern city of Qamishli in March 2004, which culminated in a massacre by the Syrian Arab Armed Forces.

Relations between the Arabs who settled in Qamishli during the Arab Belt programme and Kurdish inhabitants had been tense for decades. In March 2004, clashes broke out between Arab and Kurdish audiences during a chaotic football match. The Ba'ath Party local office was burned down by Kurdish demonstrators, who went on to destroy the statue of Hafez al-Assad in Qamishli city, echoing the toppling of Firdos Square statue in 2003.^[4]^[5]

The Syrian military swiftly responded; deploying troops backed by tanks and helicopters, and launching an extensive crack-down. At least 30 Kurds were killed and 160 wounded as the security forces re-asserted control over the city.^[6]^[7] As a result of the crackdown, thousands of Syrian Kurds fled to Iraqi Kurdistan.

Background

Qamishli is the largest town in Al-Hasakah Governorate and is located in northeast Syria. It is regarded as the Kurdish and Assyrian community capital. It is also the center of the Syrian Kurdish struggle,^[8] especially in the recent years.

The Kurds also felt opposition from the Syrian government in 1962, forty years before, when the government took census and left out of it many Kurds. This left them and their children without citizenship and the right to obtain government jobs or to have property. This disregarded minority now consists of hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who carry identification cards as "foreigner". Another move the government made which has fueled tensions was resettling Arabs from other parts of the country into along the border in Iran, Iraq and Turkey. They did this in order to build a buffer between Kurdish areas, which has furthered the hatred between the Kurds and Arabs.^[9] During the 1970s, thousands of Arabs from the city of Raqqa were settled along a 180-mile strip of Kurdish-majority regions, after confiscating lands from the Kurdish inhabitants in the region, as part of the Ba'athist Arab Belt project. Relations between the Arab settlers and Kurds in the region remained tense for decades.^[10]

The United States has for a longer period of time recognized Iraqi Kurdistan diplomatically which has led the Americans to invite the current Kurdish leader of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, to the White House and a meeting in Baghdad when the American president was in town. The visit from United States Vice President, Joe Biden, to the fourth largest city in Iraq, Erbil, also known as the Iraqi Kurdistan capital, helped strengthen their alliance with them.^[11] The United States started Operation Provide Comfort and Operation Provide Comfort II in an attempt to defend Kurds fleeing their homes in Northern Iraq as a result of the Iraqi Gulf War. Kurdish representation in Iraqi government has increased since the American invasion in 2003. Jalal Talabani, the first Kurdish president of Iraq, was elected in 2005, and Kurds have held the presidential seat since, although the position is somewhat ornamental.^[12]^[13]

2004 events

On 12 March 2004, a football match in Qamishli between a local Kurdish team and an Arab team from Deir ez-Zor in Syria's southeast sparked violent clashes between fans of the opposing sides which spilled into the streets of the city. The fans of the Arab team reportedly rode about town in a bus, insulting the Iraqi Kurdish leaders Masoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, then leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan's two main parties. In response, Kurdish fans supposedly proclaimed "We will sacrifice our lives for Bush", referring to US President George W. Bush, who invaded Iraq in 2003, deposing Saddam and triggering the Iraq War. Tensions between the groups came to a head, and the Deir ez-Zor Arab fans attacked the Kurdish fans with sticks, stones, and knives. Government security forces brought in to quell the riot, fired into the crowd, killing six people, including three children—all of them were Kurds.^[14]

The Ba'ath Party local office was burned down by the demonstrators, leading to the security forces responding and killing more than 15 of the rioters and wounding more than 100.^[15] Officials in Qamishli alleged that some Kurdish parties were collaborating with "foreign forces" to supposedly annex some villages in the area to northern Iraq.^[16]^[17]^[18] Events climaxed when Kurds in Qamishli toppled a statue of Hafez al-Assad. The Syrian army responded quickly, deploying thousands of troops backed by tanks and helicopters. At least 30 Kurds were killed as the security services re-took the city, over 2,000 were arrested at that time or subsequently.^[6]

Prosecution of the Kurdish protestors

After the violence, President Bashar al-Assad visited the region aiming to achieve a "national unity" and supposedly pardoned 312 Kurds who were prosecuted of participating in the massacre.^[9]

Aftermath

Moqebleh (Moquoble) refugee camp

After the 2004 events in Qamishli, thousands of Kurds fled to the Kurdish Region of Iraq.^[19] Local authorities there, the UNHCR and other UN agencies established the Moqebleh camp at a former Army base near Dohuk.

Several years later the KRG moved all refugees, who arrived before 2005, to housing in a second camp, known as Qamishli. The camp consists of a modest housing development with dozens of concrete block houses and a mosque.

The original camp at the former Army citadel now contains about 300 people. Many of the homes are made of cement blocks, covered with plastic tarpaulins. Latrines and showers are in separate buildings down the street. Authorities provide electricity, water trucks and food rations.^[20]

Syrian Kurds can leave the camp to work. As supposed refugees they cannot get government jobs, but are able work in the private sector, often as construction workers or drivers. The Syrian Kurds seem likely not to return to Syria until political conditions change.

2005 demonstrations

In June 2005, thousands of Kurds demonstrated in Qamishli to protest the assassination of Sheikh Khaznawi, a Kurdish cleric in Syria, resulting in the death of one policeman and injury to four Kurds.^[21]^[22] In March 2008, according to Human Rights Watch,^[23] Syrian security forces opened fire at Kurds who were celebrating the spring festival of Nowruz. The shooting killed three people.

2008 vigil in memory of the riots

On 21 March 2008, the Kurdish New Year (Newroz) a school class held a 5 minute vigil in memory of the 2004 Qamishli riots. The participants were investigated for holding the vigil.^[24]

2011 protests in Qamishli

With the eruption of the Syrian Civil War, the city of Qamishli became one of the protest arenas. On 12 March 2011, thousands of Syrian Kurds in Qamishli and al-Hasakah protested on the day of the Kurdish martyr, an annual event since 2004 al-Qamishli protests.^[25]^[26]^[27]

2012 rebellion

Armed rebellions were supported by Mashouq al-Khaznawi. In 2012, armed elements among the Kurds launched Syrian Kurdish rebellion in north and north-western Syria, aiming against Syrian government forces.^[28]^[29] In the second half of 2012, the rebellion also resulted in clashes between Kurdish soldiers and the militants of the Free Syrian Army, both striving towards control of the region. The AANES would later gain control over most of northern Syria.

References

^ "Syria: Prisoners of Conscience in Damascus Central Prison declare hunger strike". marxist.com. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
^ "Arab tribal fighters declare war on Kurdish YPG forces, north Syria". 20 February 2014. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
^ "March 12th Uprising is a historical turn towards freedom | ANHA". en.hawarnews.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
^ James Brandon (15 February 2007). "The PKK and Syria's Kurds". Terrorism Monitor. Vol. 5, no. 3. Washington, DC: The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008.
^ Ahmed, Akbar (2013). "4: Musharraf's Dilemma". The Thistle and the Drone. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8157-2378-3.
^ ^a ^b James Brandon (15 February 2007). "The PKK and Syria's Kurds". Terrorism Monitor. Vol. 5, no. 3. Washington, DC: The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008.
^ Ahmed, Akbar (2013). "4: Musharraf's Dilemma". The Thistle and the Drone. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8157-2378-3.
^ Qantara.de - The Kurds of Syria - An Insecure Stone in the Syrian Mosaic
^ ^a ^b Fattah, Hassan M. (2 July 2005). "Kurds, Emboldened by Lebanon, Rise Up in Tense Syria (Published 2005)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
^ Ahmed, Akbar (2013). "4: Musharraf's Dilemma". The Thistle and the Drone. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8157-2378-3.
^ Osman, Hiwa. "US Relations With Iraqi Kurdistan". Rudaw. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
^ Unknown. "Jalal Talabani". Kurish Aspect. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
^ "Iraq Report: December 8, 2000". Radio Free Europe. 8 December 2000.
^ Tejel, p. 115
^ "Football fans' fight causes a three-day riot in Syria". Independent.co.uk. 17 September 2011. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
^ Aji, Albert; (Associated Press) (16 March 2004). "Tension unabated after riots in Syria". The Boston Globe.
^ "Turning Points 2014". Retrieved 13 August 2016.
^ Syria: Address Grievances Underlying Kurdish Unrest, HRW, 19 March 2004.
^ Video on YouTube
^ Reese Erlich, "Syrian Kurds have long memories," Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, 21 October 2011. http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/syria-kurds-moqebleh-refugee-camp-oppose-assad-regime Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
^ Blanford, Nicholas (15 June 2005). "A murder stirs Kurds in Syria". USA Today.
^ Fattah, Hassan M. (2 July 2005). "Kurds, Emboldened by Lebanon, Rise Up in Tense Syria". The New York Times.
^ "Syria: Investigate Killing of Kurds". 24 March 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
^ "Group Denial". Human Rights Watch. 26 November 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
^ Youtube. "مظاهرة في الجزيرة السورية 12 اذار 2011". Retrieved 12 March 2011.
^ Youtube. "حفلة تأبين شهداء إنتفاضة قامشلو". Retrieved 12 March 2011.
^ soparo.com. "الكورد السوريون يحييون ذكرى انتفاضتهم السابعة بايقاد الشموع اجلالاً و اكراماُ لارواح الشهداء". Retrieved 12 March 2011.
^ "Kurdish Syria: From cultural to armed revolution". 28 July 2012.
^ "Hedging their Syrian bets". The Economist. 4 August 2012.

v t e List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
1910s	Italo-Turkish War World War I Middle Eastern theatre Battle of Robat Karim Arab Revolt Armenian genocide Assyrian genocide Mount Lebanon starvation Unification of Saudi Arabia Simko Shikak revolt 1919 Egyptian revolution Turkish War of Independence Anglo-Turkish War Al-Jazeera Front Greco-Turkish War Turkish–Armenian War Franco-Turkish War Revolts United States Mahmud Barzanji revolts
1920s	Franco-Syrian War Iraqi Revolt (1920) Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine Adwan Rebellion Arab separatism in Khuzestan Great Syrian Revolt Sheikh Said rebellion
1930s	Ararat rebellion Ahmed Barzani revolt Simele massacre Saudi–Yemeni War (1934) Goharshad Mosque rebellion 1935–1936 Iraqi Shia revolts 1935 Yazidi revolt 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Dersim rebellion
1940s	World War II Italian bombing of Palestine Allied invasion of Iraq Syria–Lebanon campaign Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran 1943 Barzani revolt Al-Waziri coup Al-Wathbah uprising Kurdish separatism in Iran Iran crisis of 1946 Arab–Israeli conflict 1948 Arab–Israeli War Suez Crisis 1967 Six-Day War 1973 Yom Kippur War 1982 Lebanon War
1950s	1952 Egyptian revolution 1953 Iranian coup d'état Jebel Akhdar War Cyprus Emergency Suez Crisis Yemeni–Adenese clan violence 1958 Lebanon crisis 1958 Iraqi revolution 1959 Mosul uprising
1960s	Cyprus crisis of 1963–1964 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict First Iraqi–Kurdish War Second Iraqi–Kurdish War Dhofar Rebellion North Yemen civil war Feb. 1963 Iraqi coup Mar. 1963 Syrian coup Nov. 1963 Iraqi coup Aden Emergency 1964 Hama riot Israeli–Palestinian conflict 1948 Palestine war First Intifada Second Intifada 1966 Syrian coup d'état
1970s	Black September in Jordan Yemenite War of 1972 Turkish invasion of Cyprus Shatt al-Arab clashes Lebanese Civil War Political violence in Turkey Islamist uprising in Syria 1977 Shia uprising in Iraq NDF Rebellion Yemenite War of 1979 Iranian Revolution Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution 1979 Qatif Uprising Grand Mosque seizure 1979–1980 Shia uprising in Iraq
1980s	Iran–Iraq War 1980 Turkish coup d'état Kurdish–Turkish conflict Turkey–PKK conflict South Yemen civil war 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot 1986 Damascus bombings 1987 Sharjawi coup d'état attempt Mecca massacre Abu Nidal's executions
1990s	Gulf War (1990–1991) 1991 Iraqi uprisings Terror campaign in Egypt (1990s) Yemeni Civil War (1994) Iraqi Kurdish Civil War Islamic insurgency in Saudi Arabia (2000–present) Operation Desert Fox al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq
2000s	Iraq War Balochi insurgency in Iran 2004 Qamishli riots Houthi insurgency in Yemen Iran–Israel proxy conflict 2006 Lebanon War Fatah–Hamas conflict South Yemen insurgency
2010s	2011 Bahraini uprising Egyptian Crisis Sinai insurgency Insurgency in Egypt (2013–present) Syrian civil war Turkish involvement in Syria Syrian War spillover in Lebanon Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013) War in Iraq (2013–2017) Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present) Yemeni crisis Yemeni civil war (2014–present)
2020s	2021 Beirut clashes Israel–Hamas war Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) Red Sea crisis
This list includes World War I and later conflicts (after 1914) of at least 100 fatalities each Prolonged conflicts are listed in the decade when initiated; ongoing conflicts are marked italic, and conflicts with +100,000 killed with bold.