November 20, 2019
Panel discussion: Repairing the Damage: The future of U.S. relations with Syrian Kurdish partners and the fight against ISIS
Via a translator: Thank you all for attending this panel. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our cause, especially the US Congress, who stood with us from the first day since this ordeal had begun. I want to thank the American public who supported us.
Indeed, you all have been watching the situation in Syria in the past eight years and what has occurred from civil wars and regional interventions. The third world war that is spoken about to happen in the future is currently taking place in a small geographic area in Syria. Northern eastern Syria which makes up about a third of the country has had a history of democracy for eight years. [Syrian cities and provinces] Afrin, Qamishli, and Kobani then later al Raqqa and Deir Ez Zor were all models of democracy. A secular system that believes in pluralism, gender equality, and the freedom of religion and ethnic rights for all, and individual freedom. This model has been established only in this area under the shadows of the self-administration and in the protection of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). All the components participated in forming and governing in the self-administration like Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Turkmans, Armenians, Assyrians, Yazidis, Muslims, and Christians. However, this self-administration constantly faced threats by the Turkish state. In 2018, Afrin city, which is my hometown, faced a brutal Turkish attack. Afrin the city that was managed by a woman, today it is governed radical Islamic factions. Its people are facing all sorts of violations by these groups like looting of properties, kidnaping, killings, terrorism, Turkification of the area, and forced displacement against the original inhabitants. This is the example of what Turkey has been describing as safe place. It’s an example of what Turkey believes in. The indigenous people of Afrin have been displaced 10km away from their homes and villages, yet they are prevented to return by Turkey.
On October 9, the towns of Ras al Ain (Sari Kani) and Tal Abyad to another Turkish invasion. As of result, these areas have been occupied by Turkey through their proxies of the radical Islamic factions. Since the start of the war until now, several massacres and violations has occurred in these areas. The people of these areas have been displaced as well. They are prevented to return to their homes. In addition, they have been settling the families of the Islamic factions who were settled in Turkey to these areas. Yes, we have fought ISIS with the international coalition and we have archived significant successes. However, the US and the international community have cooperated with us only militarily. They refused to deal with us as a political entity that has a democratic project that could be an alternative for the current regime. When we compare all governing projects in Syria like those of the Islamic factions, the Assad regime, and our self-administration, we see the following. In Idlib, and areas under the radical Islamic factions, it’s obvious that it is an Islamic project. No place for woman in the Islamic model. On a daily basis we witness killings, kidnappings, torture, and forced displacement. The factions are the ones that are committing these atrocities. The areas under controlled by the Syrian regime still suffers the centralized chauvinist, Baathist regime. In those areas also there isn’t freedom for woman and there isn’t pluralism. It’s a nationalist, sectarian system that is run one single party. The true stability that we could discuss only existed in the northern eastern Syria. However, not recognizing this project in the political talks in Geneva, is in fact an intended exclusion against this project and we see it is important to change the vision toward us. All the States have told us that there is a Turkish Veto on our participation [in the Geneva peace talks] and we have asked them whether Turkey is the head of the world to have the power to prevent us from political talks. Sadly, those who did not want to recognize us were using the Turkish veto as a pretext. The situation remained like this until they have opened the airspace to Turkey to attack us. Therefore, I say Turkey is really targeting the democratic project in Syria. Turkey is ethnically cleansing all the components of the area. The Christians are threatened by Turkey. Even the modern Arabs are threatened by Turkey.
Here we are asking the public opinion and the people of America to stop Turkey’s massacres that was announced against our people and Syria. We ask the support for our democratic project in Syria. It is vital to remove these factions that occupied the area and declare this area as demilitarized zone. Also, to sanction the factions and list them as terrorists since they have terrorized the people of the region and sanction the Turkish state for what it has done through its proxies which also used NATO weapons against us. Otherwise we would witness the terrorism in the region recycling and redeveloping itself to target the stability around the world. Thank you.