The jihadi rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad say they wish to construct a unified, inclusive nation. But after almost 14 years of civil warfare, placing that best into observe won’t be straightforward.
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 part.
Over the course of Syria’s civil warfare, 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.
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But the positive aspects of the non-Arab Kurds are actually in danger. The ascendance of the Sunni Arab rebels who overthrew Assad — with very important assist from Turkey, a longtime foe of the Kurds — will make it laborious 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 japanese 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. support within the face of such challenges. Around 900 American troops are in japanese Syria, the place they associate with Kurdish forces to stop an Islamic State resurgence. But the way forward for that mission will likely be thrown into doubt below president-elect Donald Trump, who has lengthy been skeptical about U.S. involvement in Syria.
Here’s a more in-depth have a look at the predicament the Kurds discover themselves in.
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 usually suffered persecution, which has fueled armed Kurdish uprisings.
In Syria, they carved out an autonomous enclave early within the civil warfare, by no means absolutely siding with the Assad authorities or the rebels searching for 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 fashioned a gaggle often called 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.
Why is Turkey combating 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 skilled and funded fighters often called 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’re 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, may open one other, for much longer entrance.
How do the Syrian rebels view the Kurds?
The important insurgent faction is led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously often called Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaida militant who reduce ties with the group eight years in the past and says he needs to construct a brand new Syria freed from dictatorship that can serve all its non secular and ethnic communities.
Nawaf Khalil, head of the Germany-based Center for Kurdish Studies, stated the early indicators had been constructive. He stated the rebels steered away from two SDF-controlled enclaves of Aleppo after they stormed the town two weeks in the past in the beginning of their fast advance throughout the nation.
“It can be constructive 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 japanese Syria, elevating the potential for additional clashes with the Kurds.
The rebels may nonetheless search some type of settlement with the Kurds to include them into the post-Assad political order, however that may possible 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.
Will the Trump administration assist the Kurds?
The prime U.S. navy 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 may change on Jan. 20.
Trump has supplied few particulars about his Middle East coverage, apart from saying he needs to finish the area’s wars and maintain 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 will not be 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 achievement of a marketing campaign promise to finish U.S. involvement within the area’s “limitless 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 had been and the alliance endured.
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Associated Press author Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP’s Syria protection at https://apnews.com/hub/syria
