The offensive by rebel militias in Syria that overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s regime a month ago has not brought peace to the Kurdish regions of the northeast of the country, quite the opposite. Since November 27, the same day that the lightning offensive that ended the Assad dictatorship began, a coalition of pro-Turkish Syrian militias based in the north of the country has been carrying out its own military campaign against the Democratic Autonomous Administration. of North and East Syria (AANES), dominated by Kurdish factions, which has already claimed the lives of more than 300 people. The clashes have been especially harsh since last weekend around the strategic area of the Tishrin dam, where they have resulted in the death of more than a hundred combatants from both sides, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). ).
In the first days of the offensive, the pro-Turkish militias managed to capture the towns of Manbij and Tel Rifat, located west of the Euphrates River. Since then, the front has stabilized, although there are almost daily incursions and counteroffensives by both sides near Kobane, a city that became the symbol of the Kurdish resistance against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS, for its acronym). in English). As reported on his east of the city of Manbij.
The hostilities of recent weeks have been instigated by Ankara, whose army controls a swath of northern Syria and considers the SDF a mere extension of the PKK, the Kurdish movement that launched an insurgency in Turkey four decades ago. Recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued numerous threats to the Kurdish militias, whom he routinely labels “terrorists.” “Either the murderous separatists hand over their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands,” Erdogan declared this week in the latest sign of his determination to end the experience of Kurdish self-government in Syria. According to local sources, the Turkish army sometimes intervenes in combat with air, drone or artillery strikes.
Compared to Ankara, the AANES has enjoyed the support of the United States, since for almost a decade it has been its main partner in the fight against ISIS and is in charge of the security of the detention camps for more than 10,000 jihadist fighters. In total, Washington has about 2,000 soldiers deployed on the ground, and in recent weeks it has reinforced its presence on the ground. Joe Biden’s Administration has tried to mediate between the SDF and Ankara to end the fighting, and even announced the signing of two ceasefires in December, which immediately collapsed.
For its part, the Islamist militia Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), which controls the provisional government in Damascus, has not taken sides on the ground, although it maintains good relations with Turkey. In fact, the Syrian rebels’ offensive to overthrow Assad could hardly have been prepared and launched without Ankara’s knowledge and acquiescence. Last week, an SDF delegation met with HTS leader Ahmed al Shara. “We are negotiating with the SDF to resolve the crisis in northeastern Syria,” Al Shara declared in an interview with the Saudi channel Al Arabiya.
Appease Ankara
The conversations have sometimes been accompanied by public gestures. For example, at the end of December, the AANES decreed a ban on displaying the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) flag in any of its institutions. In an attempt to appease Turkey, the head of the Kurdish militias, Mazloum Abdi, said he was willing to dissolve the SDF and integrate it into the Syrian army if both sides find an “adequate formula through negotiations.”
At the root of the conflict is the question of what the geographical distribution of power will be in the new Syria. After decades of persecution of their civil and linguistic rights, the Kurdish parties want to enjoy autonomy in the regions where they are the majority. However, Islamist militias are reluctant to deep decentralization. “There will be no division of Syria and we reject any form of federalism,” Al Shara warned.
However, the requests for autonomy do not only have a Kurdish accent, although they are not heard with such emphasis. Prominent members of the Druze religious minority, whose stronghold is in the south of the country, in the province of Sueida, have been in favor of self-government. “We are in favor of decentralization, but we do not want independence,” Sheikh Hekmat al Hejri, the highest Druze political and religious authority, told Morning Express.
While the conflict around the Kurdish issue flares up in Syria, signs are coming from Turkey of an embryonic relaunching of the peace process with the PKK. On December 28, a delegation made up of two deputies of the Turkish Parliament from the pro-Kurdish DEM party visited the historical leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, in the prison on the island of Imrali, in the Sea of Marmara. This is the first time since 2015 that Ankara has allowed a visit by Kurdish politicians to Ocalan and comes after Devlet Bahceli, a nationalist leader associated with Erdogan, proposed in October to revive peace talks.
