2004 Al-Qamishli riots

The 2004 Al-Qamishli uprising refers to the uprising by Syrian Kurds in the northeastern city of al-Qamishli in March 2004. The Kurds are the world's largest ethnic group still remaining without a country. The riots started during a chaotic football match, when some fans of the guest team (Arabs) started raising pictures of Saddam Hussein, an action that angered the fans of the host team (the Kurds). Both groups began throwing stones at each other, which soon developed to a political conflict as the Arab group raised pictures of Saddam Hussein while the Kurdish group raised the Kurdish national flag. In the aftermath of a brutal reaction by Syrian police and clashes between Kurdish and Arab groups at least 30 people were killed,^[1] though other claims indicate a casualty rate of about 100.^[2]

Background

Syria

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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 question,^[3] especially in the recent years. The reason why the Kurds were so upset over pictures showing Saddam Hussein was because Saddam Hussein, 5th president of Iraq, had targeted the Kurds for a longer period of time. The two dominant ethnicities in Iraq for a longer period of time has been the Arabs in the south and central Iraq, whilst the Kurds in the north and north-east Iraq. Hussein long viewed the Kurds as a long-time threat to Iraq’s survival, making the hatred and dismissal towards the Kurds one of his highest priorities. ^[4]

Along with Hussein disliking them, the Kurds also felt resentment from the government because of past events, the most important one happening in 1962. In 1962 the government took a census and left out thousands of Kurds. This left them and their children without citizenship and denied them the right to obtain government jobs or to own property. This disregarded minority now consists of hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who now carry red identification cards that identify them as “foreigner.” Another move the government made which has fueled tensions was resettling thousands of 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.

After the violence, President Bashar al-Assad visited the region and called for a national unity. Through this he hoped to cool tempers and ended up pardoning 312 Kurds who were accused of participating in the violence.^[5]

The United States has for a longer period of time recognized Iraqi Kurdistan diplomatically which has lead the Americans to invite the current Kurdistan leader to the White House and 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 capitol, helped strengthen the alli with them. ^[6] The United States started Operation Comfort and Operation Comfort II in an attempt to defend Kurds fleeing their homes in Northern Iraq as a result of the Persian Gulf War. Kurds and the United States has been allies for a longer period of time dating back to 1919 when the US unsuccessfully pushed for an independent state for the Kurds. Massoud Barzani is the current president of Iraqi Kurdistan region and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic party. ^[7] Jalal Talabani is the sixth and current president of Iraq, a leading Kurdish politician. He is the first non-arab president of Iraq.^[8] The riot occurred in 2004 and Jalal Talabani was elected president in 2005. The United States and Iraqi Kurdistan has not always been allies. The use of chemical weapons during the massacre by the Iraqi Government to Kurdish civilians in 1988; United States and United Nations chose not to get involved. When Saddam ordered the Republican Guards to occupy Erbil in 1996, the U.S, air force did very little to get stop it.^[9]

2004 events

In March 2004, during a chaotic soccer match, a riot started upon raising of Kurdish flag, hailing Barzani and Talabani and US President George W. Bush, turning the match to political conflict. The riot expanded and the clashes continued with the police out of the stadium. Baath Party local office was burned down by the rioters, leading to the security forces reacting and killing more than 15 of the rioters and wound more than 100.^[10] Officials in Qamishli alleged that some Kurdish parties were collaborating with "foreign forces" to annex some villages in the area to northern Iraq.^[11][12][13] 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.^[14]

Aftermath

Moqebleh (Moquoble) refugee camp

After the 2004 events in Qamishli, thousands of Kurds fled to the Kurdish Region of Iraq.^[15] 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.^[16]

Refugees can leave the camp to work. As refugees they can’t get government jobs, but are able work in the private sector, often as construction laborers or drivers. Refugees 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.^[17][18] In March 2008, according to Human Rights Watch,^[19] Syrian security forces opened fire at Kurds celebrating spring festival of Newroz and gathering for reviving the 2004 riot in Qamishli. The shooting left three people dead.

2011 protests in al-Qamishli

With the eruption of 2011 Syrian protests, the city of al-Qamishli became one of the protest arenas. On 12 March 2011, thousands of Syrian Kurds in al-Qamishli and al-Hasakah protested on the day of Kurdish martyr, an annual event since 2004 al-Qamishli riots.^[20][21][22]

See also

• Kurds in Syria
• Human rights in Syria
• First Kurdish Iraqi War
• Kurdish–Turkish conflict
• List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

References