Syria’s Kurds urged to up level of protest after leader’s death

The son of an assassinated Kurdish opposition leader in Syria has said that his father’s death will bring out more Kurds against the regime of president Bashar al-Assad.

Faris Tammo called on Syrian Kurdish groups to take a more active role in the country’s nearly seven-month-old uprising against President Assad.

“The killing of my father will encourage the Syrian Kurds to demand their freedom and rights,” said Faris Tammo. He spoke from the northern Iraqi city of Irbil. His father, Mashaal Tammo, a charismatic Kurdish opposition figure, was assassinated late last week.

More than 50,000 mourners marched on Saturday through Qamishili, the capital of Syria’s Kurdish heartland, in a funeral procession for the assassinated Kurdish leader. The outpouring marked the largest turnout in the Kurdish north-east since the start of the uprising.

Kurds have taken part in peaceful demonstrations, but Mr Tammo’s killing could spark a wider, more aggressive uprising by the country’s Kurdish minority similar to the rebellion seen in other Syrian cities. Kurds make up 15 per cent of Syria’s 23 million people and have long complained of discrimination.

Faris Tammo has been living in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region since fleeing Syria in 2008, when his father was arrested. He said he had expected that his father would die “sooner or later” at the hands of Syrian security forces. The Syrian government has denied any involvement in the activist’s death.

In April, Mr Assad said he would grant citizenship to stateless Kurds in eastern Syria in an attempt to address some of their grievances. However, although citizenship has been given to thousands of Kurds, many are still stateless.

Meanwhile, Syria’s foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, also warned the international community yesterday not to recognize a new umbrella council formed by the opposition.

“We will take tough measures against any country that recognises this illegitimate council,” Mr Moallem said, without elaborating on what type of reaction it might bring.

The Syrian National Council, announced last week in Turkey, is a broad-based group which includes most major opposition factions. No country or international body has recognised it so far as a legal representative of the Syrian people.

Bourhan Ghalioun, the opposition council’s most prominent official, said he expects the organisation will be recognized “in the coming few weeks.” Mr Moallem’s comments came as the council held two meetings, one in Cairo and another in Stockholm.

Damascus appears concerned that if the Syrian National Council is recognised by the international community, it could play the same role as the National Transitional Council in Libya that ultimately overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.

Syria’s top diplomat was speaking during a joint news conference with a delegation from the left-leaning ALBA bloc of mostly Latin American countries, who were visiting Damascus to express solidarity with Syria.

Mr Moallem criticised European countries where Syrian missions have recently been stormed by protesters, implying that Damascus might allow foreign delegations to be attacked in turn.