Washington Kurdish Institute
By: Sihanouk Dibo September 3, 2019
When U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Michael Mulroy said “the Syrian Democratic Forces have enabled us to liberate the region despite the simplicity of American support,” most did not doubt the sincerity of this statement. However, in light of threats made by the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the people of northern Syria, especially the Kurdish people, do we think that the five million people living under the local self-administration should accept Mr. Mulory’s words as genuine? I, for one, don’t think it reasonable to view such sentiments as sincere — especially while looking at the looming Turkish threats against the region, including the mobilization of tens of thousands of Turkish soldiers and their allied jihadist groups on the border of northern Syria, standing ready to attack.
The people of our region, all from different backgrounds, have fought and eliminated the most brutal terrorist organization on the planet, ISIS (Daesh). They did this in defense of humanity as a whole, and sacrificed in these battles some 40,000 martyrs and wounded. The people of this region also established a unique administrative form of government for this area: an Autonomous Administration of the North and East of Syria (AANES). This system is not based on a national or religious identity; rather, it is based on representing the will of society, and the coexistence and fraternity of all people. And while this model forms the core of the democratic change that Syria needs, at the same time it also stands as a bulwark against the expansion of the most dangerous ideologies and systems of government in Syria and the region as a whole, such as Assad/Baathism and Daesh/Salafi-Jihadism.
The threat of further Turkish invasion and occupation is neither morally justified nor politically advantageous, but rather a hindrance to the efforts of the United Nations to resolve the Syrian Civil War — a hindrance to the goals of UN Resolution 2253, as well as to the reconstruction of cities and the return of displaced Syrians to their homes. Current UN figures indicate that there are half a million dead and two million wounded, injured, and disabled as a result of this war, with about 14 million Syrians displaced. The AANES today stands at the forefront, in the face of impending Turkish occupation of the entire north of Syria and Iraq. But Turkey’s aims for the region are larger than this; conquest of northern Syrian is only the first step, with conquest of other parts of the Middle East to follow, in order to form what the Turkish regime calls Misak-ı Millî (the National Pact). In order to undertake this conquest, Ankara has brought together and trained Salafi jihadist militias from across the region and world, and supported and guided them in attempts to invade Tel Abbyad, Al Raqqa, Kobani, Deir El-Zour, and Mosul. While in 2014 there were indications that Ankara had utilized Daesh as a proxy force, today they utilize Al Nusra Front in Idlib in order to pursue the Turkish regime’s Ottoman ambitions. These Salafi jihadist forces are Turkey’s black stick.
When Erdogan threatens to bury the people of northern Syria alive in the region, and states that the AANES is a terrorist corridor, he does this for several reasons. Erdogan cannot afford to face the people of Turkey, who are dissatisfied with him to the point of coup, including his comrades who led him to power. Turkey today is in a big crisis, and Erdogan is chasing the spectre of his own downfall by directing the internal crisis abroad. Moreover, the AANES has become a bulwark against Erdogan’s reconstitution of power. The ANNES further prevents the re-emergence of Daesh, and it is the only guarantee of the continuation of the partnership between the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the American-led international coalition against global terrorism, in the eradication and eventual elimination of terrorism. So it is correct to think that the main beneficiary of Turkey’s threats and aggression is Daesh.
There is no justification for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, France, Britain, Jorda,n and all the countries of the International Coalition against Terrorism to refrain from fully supporting and formally recognising the AANES. Daesh has been terminated geographically on the soil of the AANES but there is more to achieve in regards to eliminating the terror growth in the region. The survival of the AANES in the face of the schemes instilled in the fabric of the Middle East is tantamount to the protection of the national security of these aforementioned states. So there is no justification for America to stand by while Turkey seeks to destroy the AANES and invade northern Syria, especially as Turkey threatens the U.S. itself. And not only is Turkey purchasing Russian S400 missile systems, but its education curriculum is also avowedly anti-American — for example one of its pre-university history course textbooks peddles in 9/11 conspiracy theories, questioning whether the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001 actually occurred. And even Russia’s behavior regarding appeasing Turkey and allowing it to commit massacres and occupy Syrian territory is incomprehensible. For, if Moscow’s project is the promotion of Eurasian Slavism, Russia’s policy planners will have to reset their ideas because it is Turkey who is using Russia, not vice versa.
Allowing a Turkish invasion of this region would be a mortal blow not only to the Kurds but also to the Arabs and Syriacs left alone in the face of this extremist aggression. It would also be a humanitarian disaster if Erdogan is able to carry out his threats without having someone stop him. Everyone knows that Syria is divided into two spheres of influence. The Russians are responsible for the west of the Euphrates; therefore, they bear the primary responsibility for Turkey’s occupation of Afrin on March 18, 2018. While the Americans are responsible for the east of the Euphrates; therefore, the ongoing shelling of the east of the Euphrates by the Erdogan regime necessarily means that Turkey has U.S. approval for these actions.
Thus, it would be a disgrace to us, the people of northern Syria, if the Turkish occupation is accepted without any resistance from the United States and the global community. But for now we are left to fend for ourselves alone. And yet the people of our region have always relied on themselves throughout our history. So now we are mobilizing. We are mobilizing our organizational, diplomatic, media, military, and economic powers in the face of Erdogan’s threats. And this once again will be in the interest of not just ourselves and our own survival but also in the interest of humanity and for the security of the U.S. and its allies.
Sihanouk Dibo is a member of the Presidency of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC).
Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and positions expressed by authors and contributors do not necessary reflect those of the WKI.