Torch of Freedom “Mishal Tammo”
“Mishal Tammo” was born in the city of Derbassiyah in the province of Hasakah in 1957. He is married with 6 children. After completing high school, he earned a degree in Agricultural Engineering. He entered the political arena by joining the “Kurdish Popular Union” party and continued his political activities for over twenty years. He left the party at the end of 1999 and, with some Syrian activists like “Ali al-Abdullah and Michel Kilo,” founded the Civil Society Revival Committees in Syria. He then established his political current, reflecting his political ideology and vision: The Kurdish Future Current.
On the dawn of Friday, August 15, 2008, while “Mishal Tammo” was traveling from the city of “Ain Al-Arab” (Kobani) to Aleppo, he was detained by an air force security patrol affiliated with the regime and was arrested.
He faced several charges, the most significant being “undermining state prestige and weakening national sentiment.” He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and was released in early June 2011, three months after the outbreak of the Syrian revolution against the Assad regime.
Tammo took a stance against the policies of the Kurdish parties and their position on the revolution and the regime at the time. He was a leading revolutionary figure in his area and across the Syrian Jazeera. He was deeply involved in leading and organizing the revolutionary movement in northeastern Syria.
Tammo participated in the “Syrian National Salvation” conference in Istanbul in July 2011. Soon after, he became a member of the “Syrian National Council” when it was established on October 2nd of the same year.
He was at the forefront of protesters, chanting for the fall of the regime. He vocally criticized some politicians who were passive towards the revolution. “Mishal Tammo” was among those who advocated against any reconciliation and dialogue with Bashar al-Assad’s regime, believing it was a regime that couldn’t be cooperated with. Contrary to the desire of other Kurdish party leaders to engage in dialogue with Assad, he told them, “No dialogue with a blood-shedding regime, no dialogue with a regime that has lost its legitimacy. We will never negotiate with it. We reject dialogue with the security forces, tanks, and bullets.”
On October 7, 2011, four masked men entered “Mishal Tammo’s” residence in the city of Qamishli and fired 18 bullets, mostly targeting him, his son “Marcel”, and the civil activist “Zahida Rashkilo”. He was killed instantly, while his son and Zahida survived their injuries.
After his death, thousands of citizens protested in various towns and cities of Hasakah. The demonstrators toppled the statue of the former regime leader “Hafez al-Assad” in the cities of Qamishli and Amuda and demanded the fall of the Assad regime. The martyr “Mishal Tammo” was buried in the village of “Al-Janaza” in the countryside of “Derbassiyah”, his hometown.
Leaked secret documents related to Syria, broadcasted by “Al Arabiya” channel on October 10, 2012, revealed that orders were directly issued by “Bashar al-Assad” regarding the assassination of the martyr “Mishal Tammo”, as he was an exceptional patriotic and political figure with unwavering beliefs and principles regarding the rights of the nation and its citizens. He had a sharp perspective on refusing to engage in dialogue with an illegitimate regime.
The murderer of “Mishal Tammo” remains unknown to this day! No legal committee has been formed to investigate the circumstances of this political crime against a national figure of his stature and big name.
We, in the Syrian Future Current, in appreciation of his contributions, present the Syrian Future Movement’s medal this week to the Syrian Kurdish opposition figure “Mishal Tammo”, a symbolic Syrian medal that embodies our vision and national inclusive approach.
