January 30, 2016

Geneva III Talks Are An International Sideshow That Kurds Can Do Without

Let them talk all they want in Geneva. They might as well set up Geneva IV Talks and Geneva V Talks now because the Geneva III talks will be fruitless.

There is no doubt that the oppressive regimes of Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq were all happy to hear that the United Nations rejected the participation of Kurdish representatives in the Geneva III talks as they all share strategic, economic, and political interests in denying the Kurds their rights.

But they can smile all they want because the outcome of the Geneva III talks won't count for shit. History won't be decided at Geneva or at any negotiation table in Europe. It will be decided on the ground, where Kurds, specifically the PKK and PYD, have already had multiple successes against ISIS and their regional and international backers.

As a result of being excluded from the international talks, the PYD has already changed some of its strategies. It has rightly decided to finally take a stronger stance in response to Turkish violations of their territory in northern Syria. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come because defeating ISIS without taking on their state sponsors, the AKP bullies in Ankara, is impossible.

Video Title: Dr Saladdin Ahmed's Unique Analysis On Geneva 3 Talks. Source: Ronahi TV English. Date Published: January 30, 2016. Description: 
Dr Saladdin Ahmed, writer and philosopher with interests in social space, Critical Theory, and minorities, gave a unique perspective to the exclusion of Kurds from the upcoming Geneva 3 talks.
"I think the Rojava representatives should not have gone to Geneva even if they had been invited, and here's why. First, Rojava people are already running the most, what I consider at least, the most successful, inclusive, diverse, and democratic political and administrative model in the entire Middle East.

They already have their own territory, so I don't think they have any business participating in negotiations that are designed in the first place to end a bloody war between two sides, one, the Baathist regime, one of the bloodiest, ultra-nationalist Arab regimes that never recognized Kurds, and second, the opposition, an Islamist opposition, that's arguably even worse than the regime. These two sides, if they have one thing in common, it's their enmity towards Kurds. So I don't think there's any hope to accomplish anything for Rojava that it doesn't already have.

And to make things even worse, Ankara, throughout, insisted to exclude Kurds from these negotiations. And of course that was purely motivated by politics of hatred and racist hatred. So imagine the opposite scenario. What if they invited Kurds and they again deceived Kurds with some empty promises and disingenuous recognition. Then what? So my point is that there's nothing to hope for, wish for, or to expect from these sides.

And then there's also another lesson to take home, and that's the fact that European and American politicians so easily gave up Kurds for Turkey while at the same time they expect Kurds to finish IS and, again, at the same time, they helped Turkey unconditionally. So this shows again that Rojava should only rely on its people. That's it. Everything else is just a bunch of tactics and everyone is using everyone so it all comes down to how much power you have on the ground." - Dr Saladdin Ahmed.