The jihadi rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad say they need to construct a unified, inclusive nation. But after 14 years of civil conflict, placing that ultimate into observe is not going to be simple.
For Syria’s Kurdish minority, America’s closest ally within the nation, the wrestle for a brand new order is coming into a doubtlessly much more difficult section.
Over the course of Syria’s civil conflict, Kurdish fighters have fended off an array of armed factions, partnered with the U.S. to rout the Islamic State group and carved out a largely autonomous area within the nation’s oil-rich east.
But the beneficial properties of the non-Arab Kurds at the moment are in danger. The ascendance of the Sunni Arab rebels who overthrew Assad — with important assist from Turkey, a longtime foe of the Kurds — will make it arduous for the Kurds to discover a place within the new Syria and will extend the battle.
The jihadi rebels who rode into Damascus over the weekend have made peaceable overtures to the Kurds. But the rebels violently drove Kurdish fighters out of the jap metropolis of Deir al-Zour days after authorities forces deserted it.
To the north, a separate opposition faction backed by Turkey that has been battling the Kurds for years seized the city of Manbij. And Turkey carried out airstrikes on a Kurdish convoy it stated was carrying heavy weapons looted from authorities arsenals.
The Kurds have lengthy counted on U.S. help within the face of such challenges. Around 900 American troops are in jap Syria, the place they companion with Kurdish forces to forestall an Islamic State resurgence. But the way forward for that mission can be thrown into doubt underneath president-elect Donald Trump, who has lengthy been skeptical about U.S. involvement in Syria.
Here’s a better have a look at the predicament the Kurds discover themselves in.
Kurdish-led fighters backed by the U.S. stand guard in Raqqa, Syria, on Feb. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)
Who are the U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters in Syria?
The Kurds are among the many largest stateless ethnic teams on the planet, with some 30 million concentrated in a territory straddling Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. They are a minority in every nation and have typically suffered persecution, which has fueled armed Kurdish uprisings.
In Syria, they carved out an autonomous enclave early within the civil conflict, by no means absolutely siding with the Assad authorities or the rebels in search of to topple him.
When the Islamic State group seized a 3rd of the nation in 2014, Kurdish fighters — who’re secular and embody girls of their ranks — proved their mettle in early battles in opposition to the extremists, incomes assist from the U.S.-led coalition.
They shaped a bunch generally known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, which additionally contains Arab fighters, and drove the Islamic State group out of huge areas of Syria with assist from U.S.-led airstrikes and American particular forces. In 2017, these Kurdish-led forces captured Raqqa, the capital of the extremists’ self-styled caliphate.
Turkish-backed Syrian forces stand in formation close to the city of Azaz, Syria, on Oct. 7, 2019. (AP Photo, File)
Why is Turkey preventing the Kurds?
Turkey has lengthy seen the SDF as an extension of the decades-old Kurdish insurgency inside its personal borders. It considers the primary Kurdish faction a terrorist group on par with the Islamic State and has stated it shouldn’t have any presence within the new Syria.
In current years, Turkey has educated and funded fighters generally known as the Syrian National Army, serving to them wrest management of territory from the Kurds in northern Syria alongside the border with Turkey. These Turkish-backed fighters have portrayed themselves as a part of the opposition in opposition to Assad, however analysts say they are largely pushed by opportunism and hatred of the Kurds.
The Kurds have targeted on battling the SNA in recent times. But the brand new management in Damascus, which additionally has longstanding ties to Turkey, might open one other, for much longer entrance.
Kurdish-led fighters backed by the U.S. man a checkpoint in Hassakeh, Syria, on Jan. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)
How do the Syrian rebels view the Kurds?
The foremost insurgent faction is led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously generally known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaida militant who lower ties with the group eight years in the past and says he desires to construct a brand new Syria freed from dictatorship that may serve all its spiritual and ethnic communities.
Nawaf Khalil, head of the Germany-based Center for Kurdish Studies, stated the early indicators have been optimistic. He stated the rebels steered away from two SDF-controlled enclaves of Aleppo once they stormed town two weeks in the past at the beginning of their fast advance throughout the nation.
“It can be optimistic that they didn’t communicate negatively in regards to the Syrian Democratic Forces,” he stated.
It stays to be seen if these sentiments will endure. After sweeping into Deir al-Zour this week, a fighter from al-Sharaa’s group posted a video saying they might quickly advance towards Raqqa and different areas of jap Syria, elevating the potential for additional clashes with the Kurds.
The rebels might nonetheless search some type of settlement with the Kurds to include them into the post-Assad political order, however that might probably require accepting a level of Kurdish autonomy within the east. It would additionally threat angering Turkey, which now seems to be the chief energy dealer in Syria.
American assault helicopter flies over Hassakeh, Syria, on Jan. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)
Will the Trump administration assist the Kurds?
The prime U.S. army commander for the Middle East, Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, met with SDF forces in Syria on Tuesday, in an indication of the Biden administration’s dedication to the alliance post-Assad.
But issues might change on Jan. 20.
Trump has offered few particulars about his Middle East coverage, other than saying he desires to finish the area’s wars and preserve the United States out of them.
In a social media publish shortly earlier than Assad was overthrown, Trump wrote that “Syria is a multitude, however just isn’t our good friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT.”
During his earlier time period, in 2019, Trump deserted the Kurds forward of a Turkish incursion, casting it because the success of a marketing campaign promise to finish U.S. involvement within the area’s “countless wars.”
The transfer prompted heavy criticism, together with from distinguished Republicans who accused him of betraying an ally. Trump backtracked weeks later, approving a wider mission to safe oil fields within the east. The troops remained the place they have been and the alliance endured.
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Associated Press author Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.
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Follow the AP’s Syria protection at https://apnews.com/hub/syria
