2004 Al-Qamishli riots
| 2004 Qamishli massacre | |||
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| Date | 12 March 2004 | ||
| Location | Qamishli, Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria | ||
| Causes | Clashes between rival football fans | ||
| Result |
Riots suppressed by the Syrian Army:
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| Casualties | |||
| Death(s) | 30 - 100 | ||
Riots suppressed by the Syrian Army:
The 2004 Qamishli uprising was an uprising by Syrian Kurds in the northeastern city of Qamishli in March 2004. The riots started during a chaotic football match, when some fans of the guest team (Arabs) started raising pictures of Saddam Hussein, an action that angered the fans of the host team (the Kurds). Both groups began throwing stones at each other, which soon developed to a political conflict as the Arab group raised pictures of Saddam Hussein while the Kurdish group raised the Flag of Kurdistan. The Ba'ath Party local office was burned down by Kurdish demonstrators, leading to the security forces reacting. The Syrian army responded quickly, deploying troops backed by tanks and helicopters, and launching a crack-down. Events climaxed when Kurds in Qamishli toppled a statue of Hafez al-Assad. At least 100 Kurds were killed as the security services re-took the city. As a result of the crackdown, thousands of Syrian Kurds fled to Iraqi Kurdistan.
Qamishli is the largest town in Al-Hasakah Governorate and is located in northeast Syria. It is regarded as the Kurdish and Assyrian community capital. It is also the center of the Syrian Kurdish struggle, especially in the recent years.
The reason why the Kurds were so upset over pictures showing Saddam Hussein was because Saddam Hussein, 5th president of Iraq, had targeted the Kurds for a longer period of time. The two dominant ethnicities in Iraq for a longer period of time has been the Arabs in the south and central Iraq, and the Kurds in the north and north-east Iraq. Hussein long viewed the Kurds as a long-time threat to Iraq's survival, making the dismissal towards the Kurds a goal in politics.
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