Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
Battles are raging in the northeast region of Syria, between the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) supported by a contingent of Turkish military. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has entered the fray on the side of Turkey, which had supported them in Idlib for years. Ahmad Sharaa is the current de facto leader of Syria, and the commander of HTS, formerly known as Jibhat al-Nusra, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria.
Recently, the SDF hit a Turkish military base and killed three soldiers at Ras al-Ayn near Hasakah. The SDF took back the village of al-Zeeban after clashing with HTS. The SDF and HTS have clashed in Deir Ez Zor, while the Syrian Arab tribes of the eastern desert have partnered with HTS as they repelled attacks by the Islamic State (IS). A caravan of SDF vehicles was attacked by the armed fighters from the tribes near Deir Ez Zor.
The SDF is preparing a large force to free all villages from east of Aleppo to Hasakah from HTS and the Turkish military, to liberate areas from Deir Hafer to Sheikh Maksout.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. The area is home to many ethnic and religious groups. The Kurdish community is large but is a minority in the region. The Kurds took lands, homes, businesses, and farms by force, while ethnically cleansing the area, to create their ‘homeland’. The Kurdish land grab is why the Syrian tribes are attacking the SDF.
Over 440 people have been killed since December in fighting in the area. The Kurdish militias are the SDF, YPG, and YPJ. Turkey has used drones to target infrastructure in battling the SDF and YPJ. Turkey is attempting to force the collapse of the Autonomous Administration, which is seen by Ankara as a national security threat, and linked to the PKK.
The SNA launched an offensive on the SDF on January 20 at the Tishreen Dam. The Turkish offensive targets one of two major dams on the Euphrates River. The area is the primary source of drinking water and hydroelectric generation in the SDF-occupied northeastern Syria. Turkey is using the water resources to pressure the SDF to disarm, despite international laws preventing targeting civilian infrastructure such as water supplies.
On January 20, HTS arrived on the front lines at the dam, preparing to join the battle alongside their allies, the SNA. HTS has both Syrian and foreign fighters. The SNA are Syrian fighters used in military operations against the SDF, YPG, and YPJ.
On January 16, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla visited Syria and met with US military leaders, the SDF, and others. Also present were, Maj. Gen. Kevin Leahy, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), and Brig. Gen. Michael Brooks, commander of the Combined Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant (CSOJTF-L).
The commander of the Women’s Protection Forces (YPJ), Rohilat Afrin, told the Rojava Information Centre, “If Turkey attacks Kobane, do we expect that the US will help? Materially, no. But in general, with the support they exhibit and through their meeting with Turkey, they have shown that their position is that the issue must be peacefully resolved. Even if they are purely following their interests, it has prevented the doors to a Turkish invasion into Kobane from being opened. It is evident from certain things within the diplomatic efforts that they have attempted to help us. However, we see that the [International Coalition against ISIS] has a responsibility to put a halt to the current fighting and aerial attacks. So in general, we do not expect that there will be any type of concrete blocking of a ground invasion, but in the diplomatic context there are efforts to prevent this, even if they are not enough.”
Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the commander-in-chief of the SDF, said IS had increased in the desert, while the Kurdish forces were coming under increased pressure from Turkey and its Syrian allies.
Trump in office
The day before the surprise ouster of President Assad from Syria, then-President-elect Trump said the US would end any involvement in Syria’s long-running civil war, hinting at ending support for Kurdish forces.
“Syria is a mess, but is not our friend,” Trump wrote on social media. “THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”
On January 20, President Donald J. Trump took office, and it is not known what his new policy will be directed toward the SDF. The 2,000 US troops stationed illegally in Syria might be withdrawn. The US personnel have been there to support the SDF in their mission to prevent an IS resurgence, and to prevent the land smuggling route of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah. With Sharaa in Damascus, both Iran and Hezbollah are no longer operating in Syria.
On January 15, the Senate confirmation hearing on Senator Marco Rubio took place, and Rubio voiced his opinion that the US should continue supporting the Kurds in Syria in their role of restricting the resurgence of IS. He went further to allude to the role of the SDF in preventing Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah influence in Syria, which Israel views as in their national security interest. Rubio went so far as to warn Turkish President Erdogan to not take advantage of the political and security transition in Syria.
In 2017, President Trump shut down the CIA operation that funded the Syrian rebels in Idlib. In 2019, Trump was trying to get the US, and its troops, out of wars abroad and ordered a withdrawal of troops from Syria. Republicans and Democrats were against abandoning the Kurdish ally, and the troops remained while being used to prevent Iranian weapons from going to Hezbollah.
It is not clear what the US will do with the 40,000 people in the al-Hol prison camp, administered by the SDF. They are men, women, and children all linked to ISIS.
Siyamand Ali, director of the media center of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, has revealed that in the northeastern regions of Syria “there are 26 prisons, holding more than 12,000 detainees who fought in the ranks of ISIS, coming from 55 countries, the majority of whom are from Syria and Iraq.”
On December 30, an SDF delegation met with Sharaa in Damascus for the first time. The SDF is said to have asked to remain an autonomous administration and is not willing to disarm, but is willing to discuss incorporating the SDF into a new Syrian national army under the Damascus administration. The SDF requested that there be a separate division in the national army, but this was not well received by the new Damascus administration, who felt a national army needs unity and equality to be legitimate.
Turkish President Erdogan felt betrayed by his US ally and fellow NATO member. Turkey repeatedly explained their position, and objection to the US support of the SDF, which is linked to the PKK, who have slaughtered over 30,000 in three decades of terrorism and are an internationally recognized terrorist group.
The Turkish military has been occupying parts of Syria for years as a security buffer zone to counter the terrorism threat of the SDF.
The new post-Assad government in Damascus, the HTS and Sharaa, are now in a position to assist the Turkish Army, under orders of President Erdogan, to attack and eliminate the Kurdish militias, the SDF, YPG and YPJ.
Washington has continued to support the Kurds but has never promised them a homeland. The US military has successfully used the Kurds to defeat ISIS, to house and administer thousands of ISIS prisoners and their families, and to prevent Iranian militias and smugglers from delivering weapons to Hezbollah. In exchange, the US allowed the SDF to steal the Syrian oil, which prevented the Assad regime from providing electricity, and gasoline to the Syrian people. The SDF sold the oil in Erbil, Iraq and from there, the stolen Syrian oil was sold to various European countries. The US was able to avoid funding the Kurds by allowing them to self-finance their administration with the stolen Syrian oil.
After the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024, most analysts saw Israel as the biggest winner, and the Kurdish separatists supported by the US as the biggest losers.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist.
This article is original published at Times of India
