Emine Osê, co-chair of the Autonomous Administration Executive Council, said that the policy of Damascus seeks to incite the Kurdish and Arab people against each other.

Emine Osê, co-chair of the Autonomous Administration Executive Council, spoke to ANF about the 12 March 2004, uprising and what happened before and after it.

What was the policy of the Damascus government before and after 12 March 2004?

Without a doubt, 12 March was a pre-planned event. The 12 March massacre in Qamishlo was a plan to incite the Kurdish and Arab people against each other. The attitude of the Baath regime in the massacre was in favour of bringing Arab chauvinism to the fore. Thus, it wanted to prevent the alliance to be established between the Kurdish and Arab peoples in the upcoming period. In fact, the revolution started at that time, because the problems in Syria, the attitude and approach of the Baath regime towards the people, both in social and economic terms, had reached an intolerable level. The Kurdish people were the most sensitive and revolted against these policies. The Arab chauvinism of the Baath regime was still active, mobilizing all its forces. It did its best to prevent unity and solidarity with the Kurdish people. More than that, it turned all the opposing arrows on the Kurdish people, it wanted to start an all-out war against the Kurdish people. It wanted to provoke Arab chauvinism, as if the Kurdish people wanted to break up Syria. This was actually the purpose of the Baath regime. For this reason, arrests began after 12 March, and bans were imposed on all political actions and activities. On the other hand, Damascus implemented a policy of embargo as it wanted to make the Kurdish people afraid even of their own shadow. With these policies, it wanted to destroy the will of the Kurdish people and to expel the Kurdish people from their historical lands. The serhildan, which started in Qamishlo, spread to the cities of Rojava and even to the big cities of Syria in a short time. In fact, with this serhildan, the true face of the Baath regime's approach and attitude towards the peoples began to be seen from the outside. The international community did not support the Kurdish people for change and transformation in Syria.

What kind of changes took place in Rojava after 12 March 2004? Was it really the first spark of the 19 July Rojava Revolution?

Based on the experience, accurate readings and analyses made about the 12 March events, the Freedom Movement is a movement of a people who do not bow to oppression and power. For this reason, we say that the 19 July Revolution took place as a result of the experiences gained with the 12 March serhildan. 12 March was a process full of experiences for Rojava, with its correct reading and interpretation. It was instrumental for the 19 July Rojava Revolution. Undoubtedly, on 12 March, the policy of denial and destruction was strictly enforced. The 19 July Revolution organized itself through the experience of 12 March and strengthened its defense mechanism. At the same time, it strengthened its relations with the people of the region. The policy of the Baath regime to incite the Kurdish and Arab people against each other was transformed into a Kurdish-Arab alliance with the 19 July Revolution. For this, there was extensive preparation for the 19 July Revolution. The Baath regime carried out a policy of denial and annihilation. With the 19 July Revolution, the anger of the Arabs and other components against the Baath regime strengthened the alliance of the peoples, and the ground was provided to fight together for change and transformation in Syria.

How do you evaluate the Damascus government's approach to the Rojava Revolution?

After 11 years of war, the regime cannot find a solution to the Syrian crisis, and less with its policy of denial and keeping the people and their representatives away from the solution process. There are essential issues that need to be dealt with. If the regime is serious about a solution, first of all, it should include all people in the solution process, taking into account the historical events and the pain it has inflicted on them. On the other hand, the regime wants to instil in other people the idea that the Kurds want to divide Syria. The regime still insists on its policy of denial and incitement. If we once again consider the past, the initiative of the people of the region will show us that all their efforts were towards a solution. These efforts were not few. The regime is simultaneously trying to control the initiatives of the Autonomous Administration and the initiatives of the MSD (Syrian Democratic Council), which is its political representative, through military force, and acts with the logic of ensuring its power. With the onset of the 19 July Rojava Revolution, while it should have approached the Syrian crisis responsibly, Damascus was signing secret agreements with the Turkish state. If there was no alliance between them, they would have reacted harshly to the Turkish state's invasion of Afrin, Girê Spî and Serêkaniyê. This policy carried out by the regime does not bring a solution to the deep crisis in Syria and does not end the crisis.

March is a month of massacres for the Kurds. 12 March in Qamishlo, 16 March in Halabja, 17 March in Eşrefiye, 18 March in Afrin…

Undoubtedly, while we commemorate the 12 March 2004 serhildan, we are actually pointing to the resistance of the Kurdish people in March. For the Kurdish people, March can be regarded as both a serhildan and a massacre month. We can say that the Kurdish people read the occupation, massacre and history well. In such a process, the Kurdish people decided to increase the struggle in order to protect the memories that emerged with the massacres, the martyrs who were given, and to gain the right to self-defense.