| 2004 Qamishli riots | |
|---|---|
| Location | Qamishli city,Syria |
| Date | 12 March 2004[1] |
| Deaths | 30+ |
| Injured | 160+ |
| Victims |  Syrian Kurds |
| Perpetrators | |
2,000+ arbitrarily arrested; Thousands of Kurds flee toKurdistan Region | |
The2004 Qamishli riots were riots ofSyrian Kurds in the northeastern city ofQamishli on 12 March 2004, followed by deadly suppression by theBa'athist Syrian military forces.
Relations between the Arabs who settled in Qamishli during theArab 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. TheBa'ath Party local office was burned down by Kurdish demonstrators, who went on to destroy the statue ofHafez al-Assad in Qamishli city, echoing thetoppling of Firdos Square statue in 2003.[2][3]
The Syrian military swiftly responded; deploying troops backed by tanks and helicopters, and launching an extensive crackdown. At least 30 Kurds were killed and 160 wounded as the security forces re-asserted control over the city.[4][5] As a result of the crackdown, thousands of Syrian Kurds fled toIraqi Kurdistan.
Qamishli is the largest town inAl-Hasakah Governorate and is located in northeast Syria. It is regarded as theKurdish andAssyrian community capital. It is also the center of theSyrian Kurdish struggle,[6] 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.[7] During the 1970s, thousands of Arabs from the city ofRaqqa 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'athistArab Belt project. Relations between the Arab settlers and Kurds in the region remained tense for decades.[8]
The United States has for a longer period of time recognizedIraqi Kurdistan diplomatically which has led the Americans to invite the current Kurdish leader ofIraqi Kurdistan,Masoud Barzani, to theWhite 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.[9] The United States startedOperation Provide Comfort andOperation Provide Comfort II in an attempt to defend Kurds fleeing their homes in Northern Iraq as a result of the IraqiGulf War. Kurdish representation in Iraqi government has increased since the American invasion in 2003.Jalal Talabani, the first Kurdishpresident of Iraq, was elected in 2005, and Kurds have held the presidential seat since, although the position is somewhat ornamental.[10][11]
On 12 March 2004, afootball match in Qamishli between a local Kurdish team and an Arab team fromDeir 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 leadersMasoud Barzani andJalal 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 PresidentGeorge W. Bush, whoinvaded Iraq in 2003, deposing Saddam and triggering theIraq 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.[12]
TheBa'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.[13] Officials in Qamishli alleged that some Kurdish parties were collaborating with "foreign forces" to supposedly annex some villages in the area to northern Iraq.[14][15][16] Events climaxed when Kurds in Qamishli toppled a statue ofHafez 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.[4]
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 riots.[7]
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After the 2004 events in Qamishli, thousands of Kurds fled to theKurdish Region of Iraq.[17] 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 asQamishli. The camp consists of a modest housing development with dozens of concrete block houses and a mosque.
As of 2011, the original camp at the former Army citadel contained about 300 people. Many of the homes were made of cement blocks, covered with plastic tarpaulins. Latrines and showers were in separate buildings down the street. Authorities provide electricity, water trucks and food rations.[18] 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.
In June 2005, thousands of Kurds demonstrated inQamishli to protest the assassination ofSheikh Khaznawi, a Kurdish cleric in Syria, resulting in the death of one policeman and injury to four Kurds.[19][20] In March 2008, according toHuman Rights Watch,[21] Syrian security forces opened fire at Kurds who were celebrating the spring festival of Nowruz. The shooting killed three people.
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.[22]
With the eruption of theSyrian civil war, the city ofQamishli became one of the protest arenas. On 12 March 2011, thousands of Syrian Kurds in Qamishli andal-Hasakah protested on the day of the Kurdish martyr, an annual event since the 2004 Qamishli riots.[23][24][25]
Armed rebellions were supported byMashouq al-Khaznawi. In 2012, armed elements among the Kurds launched Syrian Kurdish rebellion in north and north-western Syria, aiming against Syrian government forces.[26][27] In the second half of 2012, the rebellion also resulted in clashes between Kurdish soldiers and the militants of theFree Syrian Army, both striving towards control of the region. TheAANES would later gain control over most of northern Syria.
