Kurdish Sp Flash Tool

[Toney Talbot]

BaraaSabri is an analyst and researcher from Syria. Currently, he studies international Law at the Department of Graduate Studies in Germany. His research focuses on international relations, governance, public affairs, conflicts, and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa.

On July 2, the Turkish army reportedly shelled Kurdish forces in the Northern Aleppo region of Tel Rifaat, following a similar incident in mid-June where the Turkish Defense Ministry reported killing ten Kurdish soldiers in retaliation for the death of a Turkish soldier. These recent intermittent skirmishes reflect how Tel Rifaat remains a potential flash-point in the hotly contested region of Northwest Syria, where Kurdish, Russian, Turkish, and Syrian armed forces are all in close proximity.

While these areas were under the control of the YPG and unofficial Russian protection, the local population of the Tel Rifaat region was majority Arab; when the YPG entered into Tel Rifaat; hundreds of families living there were displaced. Turkey took this incident as an excuse to continuously harass the Kurdish-controlled areas along its southern border extending from the Tigris river in the east to Afrin in the west, though the eastern and western regions remained separated by pro-Turkish forces.

In response, the Kurdish leadership demanded on several occasions that the Syrian opposition sign an agreement reducing intervention in their areas in exchange for returning the area of Afrin to the opposition. Up to the last moment before the battle of Afrin, the Kurdish city now occupied by the Turkish army and a number of radical Sunni opposition militias, the Kurds kept trying to protect the area from the regime and its Iranian allies.

Meanwhile, Tel Rifaat and Menagh remained under YPG control with semi-official Russian protection. The Kurdish presence in these areas served as a major propaganda tool continued to serve for pro-Turkish forces in the region. Nevertheless, and in spite of repeated vows by the Turkish government to retake these areas, they remained protected from Turkish advances.

Clearly, none of the forces in the northern Aleppo region are standing on solid ground; they are essentially all outsiders relative to the civilian populations of the lands they control. On the one side, Turkey is occupying Kurdish Afrin and recruiting Sunni Syrian militants to carry out terrible missions there. On the other, Russia is maintaining the Kurdish militants in Arab-majority Tel Rifaat and preventing the original residents from returning. Nevertheless, these are not equivalent situations. Afrin is much larger than Tell Rifaat, and the militias from the YPG are Syrian citizens, whereas the Turkish forces are foreign occupying forces.

The Kurdish battalions that remained in the Tel Rifaat area and guarded the camps of displaced Kurds from Afrin have lived in a tense environment, well within reach of the Turkish pincers. Yet Kurdish forces have no intention of surrendering to Turkey unless a deal is reached in which Turkey offered additional concessions in a land swap. There is talk of a deal in which Turkey would hand over North Hama and Southern Idlib regions to the Syrian regime in exchange for Tel Rifaat, in spite of the fact that the Russians are clearly trying to keep the region as a final link between them and the YPG.

As the Russians do not want the Kurds and their Arab allies to be strong U.S. allies, Russian forces, in addition to providing support, are promising a glorious return to Afrin. And although the Kurds do not fully trust Russia, this promise is the only hope available to liberate the third of Kurdish territory in Syria from Turkey.

In light of these complex circumstances and dangerous course of events, international actors in Syria have a number of responsibilities if they do not wish to see the situation at this pressure point deteriorate further. In particular, it is incumbent on the United States to pressure Turkey to avoid battles with the YPG and to negotiate with Kurdish parties in both Turkey and Syria in order to arrive at a roadmap for peaceful coexistence. Washington must likewise work side by side with Moscow to protect Tel Rifaat and the Kurds who guard it from upcoming battles. Ultimately, a deal must be reached whereby Turkey withdraws from Afrin in exchange for handing over Arab regions in north Aleppo to the Syrian opposition.

However, until progress is made on the diplomatic front, the current situation will only lead to further chaos. The pressure of deteriorating circumstances makes it all the more important that Washington effectively intervene and help find a solution for an area that has long been a source of trouble both regionally and internationally. Finally, all parties must come to realize that precariously held territories cannot provide a foundation for lasting solutions for northwest Syria.

منتدى فكرة هو مبادرة لمعهد واشنطن لسياسة الشرق الأدنى. والآراء التي يطرحها مساهمي المنتدى لا يقرها المعهد بالضرورة ولا موظفيه ولا مجلس أدارته ولا مجلس مستشاريه وإنما تعبر فقط عن رأى أصاحبه

In an interview with The Game Magazine, Mehmet Masum Suer takes us on a journey through his extraordinary life as a photographer, revealing his profound experiences and passion for capturing Kurdish culture and documenting their stories for over four decades. Discover how he became a professional in a challenging area and be inspired by his unwavering dedication to his craft.

In this exclusive interview, Mehmet Masum Suer takes us on a journey through his life in photography, sharing his experiences and passion for capturing Kurdish people and documenting their life for over four decades. Beginning with his first photograph of his family in the 1970s, he progressed in the industry and became a professional photographer in a challenging area.

In the beginning, I took photos of family members inside our house. However, when I was a young student in high school, I was reading with love and curiosity the interviews and news written by some of my journalist elders at that time. I could write well, and I wanted to be a journalist.

Yes, indeed, communication tools have changed very quickly. In the 1970s, we were using 66 or 69 cm roll films. We could take 9 or 12 photos with these films. Previously, the size of films that could take black-and-white photos was reduced in the 1980s, and 35 mm color films were developed.

With these films, we could only take 36 photos. However, you could take thousands of photos on a digital flash disk. We were using chemical liquids in the darkroom to make prints. It required expertise. This has gone away; now you can see it from the digital screen as soon as you take your photo or print it directly.

There was no internet communication until the 1990s. The tools we use in journalism have also changed a lot. We used to use large typewriters called telex to send our news and articles to our headquarters. The articles we wrote on telex were recorded on a long paper strip with a special alphabet. When our article was finished, we plugged this strip into the telex for delivery via a phone line to the telex on the opposite side.

Phone connections were not as easy as now, and conversations were provided via telephone exchanges in post offices. Sometimes we had to wait an hour, sometimes more, or even a day to be able to make a phone call.

We were delivering our photos to the headquarters of newspapers or agencies with a heavy device, in the size of a small suitcase called a telephoto. This device was working with a phone connection. After establishing the phone connection, the photo that we wrapped on the roll of the telephoto would start to rotate. It would create a different colored line of the picture with each rotation. These colored lines would come together and complete the photo. Sometimes sending a photo took an hour or two or even 3-5 hours. Now we can instantly deliver the images we take with the camera to the center. In addition, there was no quick communication between the remote correspondent and the Dec headquarters. Now you can quickly send all kinds of data to the other party via the Internet.

The language of art, and especially the art of photography, is universal. In order to understand some other works of art or products, maybe it is necessary to know the foreign language to which it belongs, but photography is not like that. To understand a photo, it is unnecessary to learn the native language of the photographer who captured it. The image is enough to explain itself. However, the areas of interest that each photographer concentrates on are different. Some people take pictures of landscapes, some of nature, some of portraits or everyday life.

I also want to document all kinds of values of the Kurdish people, whose culture I grew up with, and leave them to future generations. At first, my family and the environment in which I grew up caused me to be interested in Kurdish culture.

I document the folk dances of the Kurds, their national clothes that disappear day by day, their home and work tools that are no longer used, and their joys and sorrows. I shoot festivals, concerts of classical Kurdish music and portraits of Kurdish artists, politicians and scientists who have become famous in all areas of life worldwide.

As a cultural photographer, I prefer cameras where I can get all the shades of the main and intermediate colors close to nature. Especially for culturally colored clothing items, it is important to get the original colors in folkloric works for me.

The Kurdish area where we live is a sensitive region in terms of security. In this region covering 11-12 provinces and on the border between Iraq and Syria, deconflictions have been going on for 40 years between the Turkish army and the PKK armed Kurdish organization militants. And as I said, more than 50 thousand people from both sides died in these conflicts. For this reason, it is difficult for journalists to take photos and work freely in the region. It is always risky to take photos in which civilian people and their living spaces are seen inside cities. A Turkish journalist cannot take pictures in the inner cities, especially in the suburbs, without government support and is blocked. The state security forces are also very uncomfortable with monitoring themselves and their movements. It reacts harshly, your camera or photo card may be taken away from you, or even the journalist may be arrested for taking a photo or a video.

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