ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region witnessed 113 non-violent civil activities in January amid a surge in protests against attacks on Kurdish forces in northeast Syria (Rojava), a local human rights watchdog reported on Tuesday.
Alliance 19, a Sulaimani-based human rights monitor consisting of advocates and civil society organizations, reported that of the 113 protests, 86 percent "were in support of Rojava and protested the Syrian army's attacks and harm caused to the civilian population in those areas." All of the activities were peaceful, they reported.
The watchdog is supervised by the Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy. Rahman Ghareeb, head of the center, told Rudaw that protests occurred at a time "when political and public discourse were aligned, which is why there was no violence, even in protests involving 100,000 people.”
In addition to Rojava, activities focused on demands for public services, salaries, rights for people with special needs, student rights, the rule of law, animal rights, and other causes.
The activities included:
77 gatherings
17 marches
16 press conferences
2 road closures
1 strike
The locations included:
47 in Sulaimani
24 in Erbil
9 in Duhok
6 in Halabja
15 in the Raparin administration
8 in the Garmiyan administration
4 in the Soran administration
While demonstrations are typically organized by political parties in the Kurdistan region, Kurdish rather than political party flags were flown throughout demonstrations, Alliance 19 reported.
Protests were peaceful and well protected by security forces, the organization added, with no assaults against female participants.
“The participation of hundreds of thousands of people illustrated the rise of national sentiment in the Kurdistan Region, despite the ruling authorities often claiming that national sentiment had vanished, especially among the youth,” Ghareeb added.
Following a large-scale offensive by the Syrian Arab Army and its allied armed groups against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Rojava, hundreds of thousands of people across cities in the Kurdistan Region took to the streets in solidarity with their fellow Kurds in Rojava. Kurds around the world also held weeks of protests and demonstrations.
The SDF and Syria’s interim government reached a comprehensive agreement last week, ending weeks of clashes.
The deal, brokered by international powers including France and the United States, stipulates that government forces will enter the Kurdish-controlled northeastern cities of Hasaka and Qamishli, while three army brigades will be formed from SDF forces.
Implementation of the agreement began on Monday, when a convoy of 15 vehicles carrying around 100 members of state-affiliated internal security forces arrived in the Kurdish city of Hasaka. Another convoy reached the besieged town of Kobane the same day, while a similar number of armed personnel are expected to be deployed in Qamishli on Tuesday.