The International Freedom Battalion was formed byleft-wing armed groups (as well as individuals not part of any other groups), most of whom had been fighting with the YPG before the creation of the IFB.[citation needed] These groups include:
TheUnited Freedom Forces (Turkish:Birleşik Özgürlük Güçleri, or BÖG), inspired by theInternational Brigades of theSpanish Civil War, were founded in December 2014 in the town ofKobanî as an organization of foreign leftist fighters of bothrevolutionary socialist andanarchist convictions. While the MLKP didn't join,[6] these groups would eventually unite in the International Freedom Battalion. BÖG also has a female branch named "Women's Freedom Forces" (Kadın Özgürlük Gücü in Turkish).[7] BÖG is considered to be the largest group within the International Freedom Battalion.[8] BOG contains several factions,seeMember groups
The Liberation Army of the Workers and Peasants of Turkey (Turkish:Türkiye İşci ve Köylü Kurtuluş Ordusu, abbreviated as TİKKO) is the armed wing of theCommunist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (Turkish:Türkiye Komünist Partisi/Marksist-Leninist, abbreviated as TKP/ML), aMaoist insurgent organisation inTurkey. On 25 March 2016, the TKP/ML TİKKO headquarters inSerêkaniyê were targeted by a motorcycle bomb, causing slight injuries to two members and damage to the headquarters. Two suspects were detained by theAsayiş.[13][14][15]
Communist Reconstruction (Spanish:Reconstrucción Comunista, abbreviated as RC) is aMarxist–Leninist group from Spain. The group carries a variant of theFlag of the Second Spanish Republic. RC has strong ties to the MLKP and members fight as part of MLKP formations, even fighting inSinjar. Two members of the group were arrested by police after their return to Spain and were accused of participating in an armed conflict outside of Spain without authorization from the state, as well as putting national interests at risk and joining groups fighting against ISIL that are considered terrorist organizations by international organizations.[19] In January 2016, eight Spanish citizens and one Turkish citizen were arrested in Spain.[20] The Spanish Interior Ministry said in a statement that "The detained, in collaboration with other individuals residing in various European countries, were providing the necessary infrastructure for displaced people to travel abroad and to finally integrate in the ranks of the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) or one of the armed wings of the organization" and that the majority of the arrested belong to the group 'Communist Reconstruction'.[21] According to 'Communist Reconstruction' leader and founder, Roberto Vaquero, the group remains absent of the Rojava conflict.[22]
Revolutionary Union for Internationalist Solidarity
TheRevolutionary Union for Internationalist Solidarity (Greek:Επαναστατικός Σύνδεσμος Διεθνιστικής Αλληλεγγύης, abbreviated as ΕΣΔΑ) is an armed fighter group fromGreece.[23][24] They have fought in Syria since 2015.Their appearance has alarmed Greek security and intelligence officials alleging that"warriors will be trained in guerilla warfare and then will be able to apply what they have learned in their homeland".[25]
The Bob Crow Brigade (abbreviated as BCB) is a group of fighters from the United Kingdom and Ireland[26] named afterBob Crow, an English trade union leader and self-described "communist/socialist", who had died of a heart attack in March 2014. The group expressed solidarity with striking rail workers in the United Kingdom.[27] Steve Hedley, senior assistant general secretary of the RMT, said: "Bob would have been honoured that young people from Britain would fight the forces of evil in his name. A great admirer of the international brigades that fought in Spain, Crow would of course have drawn the parallels with the new international brigades fightingclerical fascism and defending Yazidi, Muslim and Christian workers from slavery and persecution."[28]
After Turkey and its allied rebel groupsinvaded parts of northern Syria and clashed with theSyrian Democratic Forces, Turkish officials stated that they will treat British and other foreign volunteers fighting alongside the YPG as terrorists.[29][30] On 2 September, the Bob Crow Brigade relocated from theRaqqa front toManbij and stated "When we came to defend the revolution we meant from all enemies, big or small".[31] On 7 September 2016, the Bob Crow Brigade sent a message of solidarity to the women of Ireland fighting to repeal theEighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland on the 33rd anniversary of its approval by referendum, as well as striking Irish bus workers the following day.[32][33]
The Henri Krasucki Brigade (French:Brigade Henri Krasucki) is a group of fighters from France. Inspired by their English-speaking counterparts of the Bob Crow Brigade, they named themselves after the French trade-unionistHenri Krasucki.[24] The group expressed solidarity with theCGT union and theAir France workers on trial for the "shirt-ripping case" over an incident on 5 October 2015, which arose from a dispute over the aviation giant's plans to cut 2,900 jobs.[34]
International Revolutionary People's Guerrilla Forces
TheInternational Revolutionary People's Guerrilla Forces (abbreviated as IRPGF) was a militant, armed, self-organized, and horizontal collective of foreign anarchist fighters from around the world. The formation of the IRPGF was announced on 31 March 2017 in a video and text release to several revolutionary websites and media organizations.[35] According to the declaration of the group, their goals were to defend the social revolution in Rojava and spread anarchism.[citation needed]
They were a member organization and part of the management team of the International Freedom Battalion since April 2017; this was announced by the IFB on their Facebook page on 17 May. Their public formation and solidarity campaigns garnered interest and support from around the world as well as backlash.[36][37] On 24 July, the group established anLGBT unit, the TQILA.[38][39] On 24 September 2018, the group announced its dissolution in a final communique.[40]
TheMichael Israel Brigade formed in early 2018 at the time of theBattle of Afrin as an international volunteer unit.[41] It adopted its name in homage to an American fighter of the International Freedom Battalion, Michael Israel, also known as Robin Agiri, killed by a Turkish bombardment northeast ofal-Bab on 24 November 2016, duringOperation Euphrates Shield.[41] In its first press release, published on 13 February 2018, the brigade presented itself as a "group ofcommunists,socialists,anarchists andanti-fascists, from all four corners of the world, [...] united inRojava by the principles ofsolidarity,internationalism andanti-fascism".[41] The group is made up offar-left foreign volunteers, mainlyTurks andWesterners.[41]
The brigade announced that it was going to the front inAfrin on 19 February 2018.[41] However, theSyrian Democratic Forces were severely affected by the artillery and air strikes of theTurkish Army.[41] The Michael Israel Brigade announced its withdrawal from Afrin on 22 March 2018, it recognized the death of at least one of its fighters - a Turkish volunteer named Şevger Ara Makhno, killed on 8 March by an airstrike in the village ofBerbêné - as well as several wounded.[41] Some fighters were then sent toeastern Syria to take part in theoffensive.[41]
^Tonacci, Fabio (29 December 2016). "La brigata degli italiani con i curdi verso Raqqa: "Ma a casa non sanno che qui combattiamo"".la Repubblica (in Italian). Rome. p. 8.
^"İzlanda vatandaşı Afrin'de öldürüldü" [IFB Icelandic warrior Haukur Hilmarsson fell as martyr].CNN Türk (in Turkish). 6 March 2018.Archived from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved6 March 2018.
Akin, C. Erdost (2024). ""Martyrs do not die": Politics and security in Kurdish insurgents' funerals".Death Studies.1–11:1–11.doi:10.1080/07481187.2024.2424024.
Heinke, Daniel H.; Raudszus, Jan (2018). "Germany's Returning Foreign Fighters and What to Do about Them". In Renard, Thomas; Coolsaet, Rik (eds.).Returnees: Who Are They, Why Are They (Not) Coming Back and How Should We Deal with Them?: Assessing Policies on Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Egmont Institute. pp. 41–54.ISBN979-10-96843-15-2.JSTORresrep17406.6.
Koch, Ariel (2019). "The Non-Jihadi Foreign Fighters: Western Right-Wing and Left-Wing Extremists in Syria".Terrorism and Political Violence.33 (4):669–696.doi:10.1080/09546553.2019.1581614.
Malet, David; Farrell-Molloy, Joshua; Young, Joseph (2024). "Foreign Fighter Mobilization: YPG Volunteers in Their Own Words".Terrorism and Political Violence.37 (1):93–110.doi:10.1080/09546553.2023.2275055.
Ramírez Díaz, Naomí (2020). "Between the PYD and the Islamic State: The Complex Role of Non-state Actors in Syria". In Amour, Philipp (ed.).The Regional Order in the Gulf Region and the Middle East.Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 303–328.doi:10.1007/978-3-030-45465-4_10.ISBN978-3-030-45464-7.
Schmidinger, Thomas (2024). "Kurdish Armed Liberation Movement or Ground Forces of the Global Coalition against ISIS? The YPG/YPJ and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)". In Lohlker, Rüdiger; Ivanyi, Katharina (eds.).Agents of Violence.Brill. pp. 173–203.doi:10.30965/9783657794478_007.ISBN978-3-506-79447-5.
United Freedom Forces
Women's Freedom Forces
Revolutionary Communard Party
MLSPB-DC
Social Insurrection
Devrimci Cephe
Devrimci Karargâh
Revolution Party of Turkey
Emek ve Özgürlük Cephesi
Halkın Devrimci Güçleri
MLKP
TKP/ML TİKKO
MKP
Reconstrucción Comunista
TKEP/L
RUIS
Bob Crow Brigade
Henri Krasucki Brigade
IRPGF
Tekoşîna Anarşîst(Anarchist Struggle)
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