The Kurdish Future Movement in Syria (, ) is a liberal Syrian Kurdish political party established in 2005 by

Mashaal Tammo Mashaal Tammo, also Mash'al Tammo (, ; 1958 – October 7, 2011) was a Syrian Kurdish politician and activist who supported the interests of the minority of the Kurds. Tammo was released in 2010 after spending more than three years in jail ...

, who in 2011 was assassinated. Following internal leadership battles, the party has suffered a split, with both factions continuing to exist under the same name.

Party history

Founding years and the Syrian Civil War

The ''Kurdish Future Movement'' was founded on 29 May 2005 by Syrian Kurdish politician

pursuant to the ''Syrian Committee for the Revival of Civil Society'', and the '' Bedir Khan Cultural Forum'' of

Qamishli Qamishli is a city in northeastern Syria on the Syria–Turkey border, adjoining the city of Nusaybin in Turkey. The Jaghjagh River flows through the city. With a 2004 census population of 184,231, it is the List of cities in Syria, ninth most-po ...

. Earlier than most of the other Kurdish parties, the party established a relationship with the Syrian Arab opposition. In August 2008, Tammo was arrested and charged with "committing aggression and arming Syrians to start civil war," a charge he denied. In June 2011, inmidst the 2011 civil uprisings, Tammo was released from prison. Having represented the party on an

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

meeting of the Syrian opposition on 16 July, he took part in the foundation process of the

Syrian National Council The Syrian National Council (SNC), sometimes known as the Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria, was a Syrian opposition coalition, based in Istanbul, Turkey, formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil upris ...

(SNC), making the ''Future Movement'' the only Kurdish member party actively committed to the SNC. Tammo however withdrew his party's support from the founding conference's final declaration, given that it didn't recognize Syria's

Kurdish people Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

. The Kurdish Future Movement has strong relations with Kurdish youth groups and has been actively involved in dissident demonstrations and protests since the beginning of the uprising. In fact, members of the Kurdish opposition have accused the Kurdish Future Movement of focusing excessively on the revolution, while failing to uphold and defend Kurdish interests. In contrast to the majority of Kurdish parties in Syria, the Kurdish Future Movement does not see the Kurdish question as a regional matter. It doesn't call for Kurdish self-determination but for full participation in the new government based on proportional representation, and it demands recognition of the Kurdish people as a main, rather than second, ethnicity in Syria.

Party split after Tammo's assassination

Having survived a first assassination attempt in August, Mashaal Tammo was however killed on a second attempt November 11 in Qamishli. Rezan Bahri Shaykhmus, chairman of the party's Office of General Communications, blamed the Syrian intelligence services having killed founding leader Tammo, and indeed in October 2012, TV network

Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...

published leaked files indicating that Tammo was assassinated by the

Air Force Intelligence Directorate The Air Force Intelligence Directorate () was an intelligence service of Ba'athist Syria from 1970 until 2024, owing its importance to Hafez al-Assad's role as the Air Force commander. Despite its name, it was mainly involved with issues other t ...

and upon presidential order by

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

. Since Tammo's death, the ''Kurdish Future Movement'' suffered from internal leadership battles. On July 6, 2012, the party split in two when some twenty people convening a general assembly in

declared the chairman Rezan Bahri Shaykhmus to be deposed and replaced him with the successor Jangidar Muhammad. As Shaykhmus' supporters didn't recognize the elections, there are currently two parties known as the Kurdish Future Movement in Syria. On its October 17 to 19, 2014 congress in

, the Shaykhmus-wing of the Kurdish Future Movement elected the previous European representative Siamend Hajo chairman. The party also decided to create a military wing in order to protect civilians in the Kurdish regions. Otherwise the party decided to work covertly in Syria in order to avoid persecution by the Assad government and the PYD. Rasheed Muhammad, a member of the Future Movement, was also a member of the local council in the town of Al-Dirbasiyah, Hasaka Governorate. On 1 April 2017, he was arrested by PYD-led self-management forces.

References

External links

Website IWebsite II
{{Syrian Civil War 2005 establishments in Syria Centrist parties in Asia Kurdish political parties in Syria Liberal parties in Asia Political parties established in 2005 Political parties in Syria Political parties in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria