Polat Can بولات جان | |
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Personal details | |
Born | 1980 Kobanî, Aleppo Governorate, Syria |
Residence | Rojava |
Profession | Politician |
Website | www.polatcan.info |
Polat Can (Ahmad Mohammad), [1] born in 1980, in Kobane (Syria), is a Kurdish political activist from Syria. He is one of the founders and main commanders of the People's Defense Units (YPG), [2] and serves as the organization's official spokesperson. [3] He also serves as the coalition commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
He is also a journalist and writer, author of a literary production in Kurdish, Arabic and Turkish.
Born on 20 March 1980 in Kobanê, Polat Can began early in the Kurdish national liberation movement. It first takes place in the ranks of the People's Defense Units (YPG).
He held many positions in the various press services linked to the movement. He was once editor-in-chief of Mesopotamia magazine, published in the Yerevan, and Democratic Middle East magazine, published in Baghdad.
He is one of the founders of the Confederation of Kurdish Patriotic Students(Xwendekar), [4] of which he becomes the general coordinator. He is still responsible for university students at the Mazlum Dogan Academy. [5]
Polat Can is one of the founding members of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. He became the official spokesperson for this organization during the fight against Daesh, during the Syrian civil war (in particular the first and second battles of Kobane). [6] Polat Can, in addition to his functions within the YPG, also assumes a command post within the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of which the YPG is a part but which includes other armed organizations. [7]
In early 2016, Polat Can met with an official representative of the United States, Brett McGurk, [8] then under President Obama. This meeting gave rise to a lively controversy in Turkey.
He writes in Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish and English. Several of his books have been published in five languages. [9] He has written for many years in magazines, newspapers and on the internet.
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The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). YPG provides updates about its activities through YPG Press Office Telegram channel and social media accounts.
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The Rojava–Islamist conflict, a major theater in the Syrian civil war, started after fighting erupted between the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Islamist rebel factions in the city of Ras al-Ayn. Kurdish forces launched a campaign in an attempt to take control of the Islamist-controlled areas in the governorate of al-Hasakah and some parts of Raqqa and Aleppo governorates after al-Qaeda in Syria used those areas to attack the YPG. The Kurdish groups and their allies' goal was also to capture Kurdish areas from the Arab Islamist rebels and strengthen the autonomy of the region of Rojava. The Syrian Democratic Forces would go on to take substantial territory from Islamist groups, in particular the Islamic State (IS), provoking Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War.
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Kobanî, officially Ayn al-Arab, is a Kurdish-majority city in northern Syria, lying immediately south of the Syria–Turkey border. As a consequence of the Syrian civil war, the city came under the control of the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in 2012 and became the administrative center of the Kobani Canton, later transformed into Euphrates Region of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
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AANES–Syria relations concern the military and political relations between the Ba'athist Syrian Arab Republic and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), a de facto autonomous multi-ethnic region in northern and eastern Syria. The Syrian government does not officially recognise the autonomy of the AANES, and advocates a centralist approach to the governance of Syria. The NES seeks the federalisation of Syria. For most of the Syrian civil war, there has been a non-aggression pact between the military of Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces, with occasional confrontations and some cooperation against Islamist groups, in particular against the Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. While the two sides co-operated militarily under Russian supervision since 2019, with Syrian and Russian troops stationed along the Turkish border to prevent further advances, political negotiations have ended in failure. The Syrian government has no authority or institutions in North and East Syria outside of its two security boxes in Qamishli/Qamislo and Al-Hasakah/Heseke. The Autonomous Administration does not allow the Syrian Government to hold elections in areas under its control.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurdish-led coalition formed by ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The SDF is allied to and supplied by the United States–led CJTF–OIR international alliance. Founded in 10 October 2015, the SDF claims that its mission is fighting to create a secular, democratic and federalised Syria. The SDF is opposed by Turkey, who claims the group has direct links to the PKK, which it recognizes as a terrorist group.
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Ferhat Abdi Şahin, better known by his nom de guerreMazloum Kobani Abdi and his previous nom de guerreŞahin Cilo, is a Syrian Kurdish military leader, serving as the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Various news articles have referred to him with the name "Mazlum Kobane."
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