Attack on ENKS Office in Kobane Triggers Tension Between Kurdish Parties

Logo of Kurdish National Council (ENKS)
Logo of Kurdish National Council (ENKS)
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Attack on ENKS Office in Kobane Triggers Tension Between Kurdish Parties

Logo of Kurdish National Council (ENKS)
Logo of Kurdish National Council (ENKS)

The headquarters of the opposition Kurdish National Council (ENKS) in Kobane was attacked in the early hours of Tuesday, causing severe damage to the building and creating a state of terror in the neighborhood.

The council issued a statement accusing the Revolutionary Youth movement, affiliated with the Movement for a Democratic Society, of attacking the offices of the council in Ain al-Arab.

Head of the local council of ENKS Barkal Ahmed asserted that unknown gunmen threw two bombs at the building, then fired a round of bullets from machine guns. He noted that the attack damaged the building and shattered its windows.

The statement denounced “intimidating” actions, saying that this is not the first attack on its offices in Kurdish cities and towns.

The umbrella group of opposition parties, which includes 16 political parties as well as academic and social figures, accused the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) of being responsible for the attacks.

Remarkably, the Union Party is the ruling party in the regions east of the Euphrates and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava).

However, the Council asserted that the unity of the Kurdish position is a strategic issue, and these “shameful acts of terror will not deter us.”

“Those who commit those actions amid intra-Kurdish talks, between ENKS and Kurdish National Unity Parties (PYNK), are evil people who want to harm the unity of Kurds in Syrian Kurdistan."

The general coordinator of the Kurdish Reform Movement, Faisal Yusuf, indicated that the talks were not suspended because of unresolved issues, but because the US sponsor is engaged in other matters.

He noted that the negotiations aim to resolve differences that persisted after the Dohuk Agreement (2014).

Yusuf called for promoting confidence-building measures between the Kurdish parties in Syria, stressing that the unity of the Kurdish position in Syria was, and still is, a strategic choice.

“We are negotiating for a political unity guaranteeing a true partnership that expresses the interest of the Kurdish people in Syria.”

The outstanding contentious issues between the two major components of the Kurdish movement revolve around several issues, such as the demand to reveal the fate of 10 kidnapped politicians and eight members of the Kurdish Military Council.

The Kurdish interference constitutes a major obstacle to the talks, as the council leaders accuse the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of imposing its control over the Syrian Union Party, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the Kurdish Units.

The council also accuses the Party of working against any political partnership that may cancel its future role in the Kurdish-Syrian regions.

The council is ready to return to the US-sponsored negotiations with the unity parties and seeks a unified Kurdish position in the implementation of its political program.

Last October, unity talks stalled between Kurdish ruling and opposition parties after they moved to discuss more complex issues such as "protection, defense, and military forces" and the "Autonomous Administration partnership."



Kurdish PKK Militants to Hand over First Weapons in Ceremony in Iraq

PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
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Kurdish PKK Militants to Hand over First Weapons in Ceremony in Iraq

PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)

Dozens of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants will hand over their weapons in a ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant first step toward ending a decades-long insurgency with Türkiye.

The PKK, locked in conflict with the Turkish state and outlawed since 1984, decided in May to disband, disarm and end its armed struggle after a public call to do so from its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, Reuters said.

After a series of failed peace efforts, the new initiative could pave the way for Ankara to end an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people, burdened the economy and wrought deep social and political divisions in Türkiye and the wider region.

Around 40 PKK militants and one commander were expected to hand over their weapons at the ceremony in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, people familiar with the plan said. The PKK is based in northern Iraq after being pushed well beyond Türkiye’s frontier in recent years.

The arms are to be destroyed later in another ceremony attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, and senior members of Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM party - which also played a key role in facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision.

The PKK, DEM and Ocalan have all called on Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's government to address Kurdish political demands. In a rare online video published on Wednesday, Ocalan also urged Türkiye's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage the broader peace process.

Ankara has taken steps toward forming the commission, while the DEM and Ocalan have said that legal assurances and certain mechanisms were needed to smooth the PKK's transition into democratic politics.

Erdogan has said his government would not allow any attempts to sabotage the disarmament process, adding he would give people "historic good news".

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan's AK Party, said the disarmament process should not be allowed to drag on longer than a few months to avoid it becoming subject to provocations.