8. September 2021

Mehreren Berichten zufolge wurde der syrische Grenzübergang in Tal Abyad am 19. September 2012 von Rebellen der Freien Syrischen Armee (Free Syrian Army, FSA) eingenommen (NYT, 19. September 2012; BBC, 19. September 2012; UN Country Team in Turkey, 19. September 2012). In einer Karte von Political Geography Now zur Gebietskontrolle in Syrien vom Oktober 2012 ist Tal Abyad als unter Kontrolle der FSA und ihrer Verbündeten eingezeichnet. Im dazugehörigen Text wird erwähnt, dass die Regierung am 19. September die Kontrolle über den Grenzübergang Tal Abyad verloren habe (Political Geography Now, 23. Oktober 2012). Auch die Ende Dezember 2012 und Anfang März 2013 veröffentlichten Folgekarten von Political Geography Now zeigen Tal Abyad unverändert unter Kontrolle der FSA und ihrer Verbündeten (Political Geography Now, 28. Dezember 2012; Political Geography Now, 8. März 2013).

Im Oktober 2013 berichtet das Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), dass Kämpfe zwischen rivalisierenden Milizen in Tal Abyad seit Juli 2013 häufig geworden seien. Die mit der kurdischen Democratic Union Party (PYD) verbundene People’s Protection Force (YPG) habe gegen eine Koalition aus den dschihadistischen Milizen Islamischer Staat (IS) und Ahrar al-Sham, sowie Einheiten der FSA gekämpft (IWPR, 28. Oktober 2013). Im Juni 2015 wird berichtet, dass die PYD/YPG mit der Unterstützung von Teilen der FSA und der US-geführten Anti-IS-Koalition Tal Abyad vom IS eingenommen habe (BBC, 16. Juni 2015).

Quellen: (Zugriff auf alle Quellen am 8. September 2021)

·      BBC World News: Syria conflict: Damascus suburb sees heavy fighting, 19. September 2012
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19645269

·      BBC World News: Is Tal Abyad a turning point for Syria's Kurds?, 16. Juni 2015
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33146515

·      IWPR – Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Kurds vs. Islamists and FSA in Syrian Town, 28. Oktober 2013
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1039736.html

·      NYT - New York Times: Rebels Are Said to Defeat Syrian Forces in Battle at Border, 19. September 2012
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/world/middleeast/syria.html

·      Political Geography Now: Syria Uprising Map: October 2012, 23. Oktober 2012
https://www.polgeonow.com/2012/10/syria-uprising-map-october-2012-7.html

·      Political Geography Now: Syria Uprising Map: December 2012, 28. Dezember 2012
https://www.polgeonow.com/2012/12/syria-uprising-map-december-2012.html

·      Political Geography Now: Syria Uprising Map: March 2013, 8. März 2013
https://www.polgeonow.com/2013/03/syria-uprising-map-march-2013-9.html

·      UN Country Team in Turkey: Daily Situation Report on the Situation Pertaining to Syria, 19. September 2012 (verfügbar auf Reliefweb)
https://reliefweb.int/map/turkey/daily-situation-report-situation-pertaining-syria-september-19-2012

 

Anhang: Quellenbeschreibungen und Informationen aus ausgewählten Quellen

·      BBC World News: Syria conflict: Damascus suburb sees heavy fighting, 19. September 2012
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19645269

„Rebels have also taken full control of the Tal al-Abyad border crossing with Turkey after a lengthy battle with government forces overnight, according to Turkish officials and witnesses. The crossing is further to the east than any of the others previously captured by rebels, and could make it easier for them to get fighters and ammunition in and out of Syria, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut.“ (BBC, 19. September 2012)

·      NYT - New York Times: Rebels Are Said to Defeat Syrian Forces in Battle at Border, 19. September 2012
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/world/middleeast/syria.html

„Turkish schools in the region were closed for the day after intense overnight clashes in which the rebels attacked the Syrian frontier post at Tal Abyad, south of the Turkish town of Sanliurfa, according to the semiofficial Anatolian News Agency. Television images appeared to show members of the insurgent Free Syrian Army standing on the roof of the border post and hauling down the Syrian flag at Tal Abyad, which is less than a mile from Turkey’s Akcakale crossing. A private Turkish television channel said Syrian tanks were headed for the border post.“ (NYT, 19. September 2012)

·      IWPR – Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Kurds vs. Islamists and FSA in Syrian Town, 28. Oktober 2013
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/1039736.html

„Clashes between rival militias have become the norm in the northern Syrian town of Tal Abyad and neighbouring villages. The battles pit a Kurdish faction called the People’s Protection Force against a coalition of Arab militias consisting of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS); Ahrar al-Sham, another jihadist militia; and units from the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The alliance between these latter groups is extraordinary given the conflict between ISIS and the FSA in other parts of Syria. Tal Abyad sits on the border with Turkey about 100 kilometres north of the city of Raqqa. Its residents have suffered the consequences of fighting which began on July 20 this year. The conflict began when the People’s Protection Force, affiliated with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), captured an ISIS field commander called Abu Musab. It accused him of setting a booby-trap at a school controlled by the PYD. Clashes between the two sides continued for two days. FSA elements sided with ISIS, and eventually forced the PYD to withdraw from the town.“ (IWPR, 28. Oktober 2013)

·      Political Geography Now: Syria Uprising Map: October 2012, 23. Oktober 2012
https://www.polgeonow.com/2012/10/syria-uprising-map-october-2012-7.html

„Since our last Syria update in August, the broadest change to territorial control has been the rebels‘ eastward expansion from Aleppo into ar-Raqqah province, a region that had previously seen little fighting. Most notably, the Tal Abyad border crossing fell out of government hands on September 19. Starting early this month, attempts by government forces to take back Tal Abyad spiraled into low-intensity border clashes between Turkish and Syrian government forces after Syrian shells began crossing into the other country.“ (Political Geography Now, 23. Oktober 2012)

·      UN Country Team in Turkey: Daily Situation Report on the Situation Pertaining to Syria, 19. September 2012
https://reliefweb.int/map/turkey/daily-situation-report-situation-pertaining-syria-september-19-2012

„Due to the recent clashes across the border on Syrian side, reportedly the opponent group, Free Syrian Army took the control of the border gate of Tel-Abyad on the Syrian side across Akçakale.“ (UN Country Team in Turkey, 19. September 2012)