Kurdish Syrian Militias versus Islamic State

"I think that participation of Canada in this coalition, it's very important. It means that Canadians value the principles of humanity and democracy."
"It's very important. Everybody, they say 'yes, yes', but it's time to see something concrete."
"There are so many fighters, they come recently from America, from Europe, from Britain. Still they are coming, we don't say no for anybody who wants to [come and fight with the Kurds in Syria]."
"Sometimes they don't allow them to go to the front line, only for their own safety, but sometimes they insist to go -- 'why don't they allow us to go to the front line, we come here to fight'?"
Sinam Mohamad European representative Kurdish region of Syria (Rojava)

Rubble and damaged buildings in the Syrian city of Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobani, on Jan. 30, 2015. (AP)

"Even the armies of the states like Syria and Iraq could not stand against them [Islamic State], only the Kurdish people because they are very well organized. And they defeated them and these victories will continue until we finish [ISIL] from the world."
"Of course, we are also happy because we have fighters among YPG and YPJ from all over the world."
"As you know, we have now martyrs among our people from England, from Germany, from Australia. Recently an American member was martyred in Kobani, which is very honourable for us."
"And of course, you are Canadian, you have some people also fighting among YPG."
Salih Muslim, co-chair, Democratic Union Party, Syria (Rojava)

It is certainly true that the Kurdish minority in Syria, much as it is similarly reflected in Iraq, both countries afflicted by the terrorist Islamist group building its caliphate in both countries, that is managing to fight off Islamic State advances, not the Syrian military, nor its supporting Hezbollah Shiite militias, nor the al-Quds division of the Iranian Republican Guard dispatched to aid the Syrian regime against both Syrian Sunni rebels and the Islamists also fighting the regime.

SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images   Kurdish Peshmerga fighters stand in line during a training session held by military advisers from the international coalition forces at a Kurdistan Training Coordination Centre on the outskirts of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on March 24, 2015.

Kurdish leaders made an appeal in Toronto for Canada's assistance. Speaking directly to several members of Parliament they detailed their need for military and financial support in their endeavour to defeat Islamic State's plans of violent Islamist domination. Salih Muslim appeared by video-conference to thank Canada for its part in the U.S.-led airstrike coalition, but emphasized that money is direly needed to rebuild the region devastated by Islamic State.

The restoration of centres such as Kobani -- which was destroyed even as the Kurdish forces managed to wrest its enclave back from Islamic State -- needs a massive infusion of funding from the international community, stressed Sinam Mohamad, European representative of the Rojava Self-Ruled Democratic Administration, speaking at the Canadian Conference on the Kurdish Humanitarian Crisis taking place in Toronto.

The heavy lifting, as the world knows through extensive reporting from the war zones, is being performed by the Kurdish minority. The Kurdish YPG militia and its female brigades (YPJ) have managed a number of victories against Islamic State, aided by the coalition air campaign, which itself has recognized the utility of fighting alongside the Kurds for maximum benefit. They spoke of the foreign volunteers anxious to join the Kurdish forces, enraged by the bloodbath imposed by ISIL on ethnic and religious minorities.

Among the several hundred attending the conference organized by the Toronto Kurdish Community and Information Centre, were three Conservative Members of Parliament. The war against the "psychopathic killers" of ISIL was not a Kurdish conflict only, said MP Mark Adler. "This is a fight for values that we hold so dear ... and we will not roll over, Canada will do its part as it always has throughout history", he added.

And it will be instructive indeed to be apprised of how the Government of Canada will officially respond to the appeal beyond its current commitments, spread fairly thin given its obligations in eastern Europe as well as in Iraq and Syria.