
Thursday, October 15
Vandalism of images and PYD office in Hasakah sets today's agenda.
Vandalism at the PYD office in Hasakah and an arrest
Kamîran: Let us begin with Hasakah. Something happened there that drew a great deal of attention.
Ronahî: According to a statement from the Democratic Union Party, on Tuesday, thirteen October, the party office in the Khuwairan neighbourhood of Hasakah was broken into. Doors were smashed. Images and banners were taken out and defaced. Among them were pictures of women and men who lost their lives and Kurdish symbols.
Ronahî: A video circulated on social networks. It shows several people insulting those images and symbols. According to local sources, the person named Nasir Tariq Etiya, who also lives in the same neighbourhood, is now in the hands of the Internal Security Forces. This is preliminary information that comes from local sources.
Kamîran: So the video shows several people, yet so far only one person's name has emerged.
Ronahî: Yes. Reactions also came from many sides. The General Command of the Women's Protection Units said that vandalism of the images of female fighters is an attack on all women. The Kurdistan National Congress described the incident as a dangerous scene aimed at inciting ethnic hatred. It called on Syria's democratic and Arab forces to stand against this stance. In Kobani, women politicians also issued a statement. Badiya Meho, a member of the party's executive committee, read it and demanded that those responsible for the incident be brought to trial.
Death penalty handed down again for Warishe Muradi in Tehran
Ronahî: In Iran, lawyer Amir Sajadi announced that his client Warishe Muradi, a Kurdish political and women's-rights activist, was sentenced to death for the second time by Branch Fifteen of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
Kamîran: For the second time... That means the ruling has been issued again. On what charges?
Ronahî: According to the lawyer, the charge is membership in a rebellious group. Further details have come only from her lawyer; the court has issued no statement among the information.
Attack on two patrols in Hama
Kamîran: In the Hama countryside, after the incident we mentioned yesterday, there is a new attack today.
Ronahî: According to local sources, unidentified persons attacked two Internal Security Forces patrols last night on the road between Salamiyah and Atriya. Four security personnel lost their lives.
Ronahî: Security sources say additional units have been sent to the area to clarify the situation of the incident and to apprehend the attackers. So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, and no information has been given about the identity of the attackers.
Israeli shelling and entry into a home in southern Syria
Ronahî: Israeli forces shelled three different areas of Quneitra within a few hours. First, the surroundings of Tal Khirum in the centre of the province were shelled. Then the surroundings of Tal Hamriya in the north, and finally the surroundings of Tal Ahmar al-Sharqi in the south.
Ronahî: In the western countryside of Daraa as well, according to local sources, an Israeli force with five vehicles moved toward Wadi al-Raqqad. Three vehicles entered the home of a civilian who has lived there for years, and several young people were held inside for a time.
Kamîran: So in two neighbouring provinces, on the same day, there is both shelling and soldiers entering homes.
Ronahî: Indeed. But regarding casualties from the Quneitra shelling, so far there is no confirmed information.
An officer and a soldier lost their lives on the Kirkuk border
Ronahî: On the border of the town of Rashad belonging to Kirkuk, at the Zikhetun River, a mine that had been planted earlier exploded on a communications vehicle belonging to officers of the Eleventh Division of the Iraqi army.
Ronahî: In the explosion an officer and a soldier from the Iraqi army lost their lives.
Kamîran: An old mine, yet again two people lost their lives. Who planted it is not stated in the reports.
Turkey rejects obstacles to return to Ras al-Ayn
Kamîran: The question of return, which was also on the agenda yesterday, today received an official reply from Ankara.
Ronahî: The Centre for Combating Disinformation affiliated with the Turkish Presidency, on Tuesday, rejected the claim that the Turkish army is preventing villagers from returning to the Ras al-Ayn area. It said the circulated reports are not true.
Ronahî: Other reports say that the reality on the ground is the opposite. But in the information we have, apart from Turkey's statement, there are no details of return incidents in this interval.
Women in Derbasiyah against reduction of Kurdish lessons
Ronahî: The Syrian Ministry of Education decided that Kurdish language lessons in schools should be three hours per week. Women of Derbasiyah rejected this decision. They said the Kurdish people's right to mother-tongue education must be guaranteed and preserved for future generations.
Kamîran: Because of this, the debate over the place of the Kurdish language in education has reopened.
Ronahî: Yes, and this is the first time we are seeing such an organised reaction from women.