Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 03.12.2024
While the rebels are a coalition of Islamists, different groups and tendencies exist. The central organization, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Known as HTS, is the least sectarian, and the Syrian National Army -SNN backed by Turkey, is the most sectarian.
This difference is evident as it concerns the Kurds in Syria. Turkey claims that the Kurdish militia, the SDF that Ankara claims is linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey, which Ankara accuses of terrorism. However, there is no evidence the SDF has ever been involved in terrorist attacks on Turkey. The fundamental goal of Ankara is to remove Kurds from areas near the border and force them to flee, and it uses the SNA for this goal.
Over the weekend, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the independent opposition group that controls Idlib province in Syria, launched an offensive against the Syrian regime. The regime fled Aleppo, and HTS made significant gains on November 29 and 30.
The Kurds who fled Afrin moved to IDP camps near Tal Rifaat. There are other Kurdish towns and areas in and around Aleppo. The Syrian Democratic Forces, a group that is backed by the US to fight ISIS and is made up of many Kurdish fighters, came to control areas near Tal Rifaat and the Sheikh Masoud neighborhood in Afrin over the last several years.
The Syrian National Army, or SNA which, is a group of former Syrian rebel groups that Turkey now backs. Many of them are accused of human rights abuses. Turkey uses them primarily to control areas that it has invaded in northern Syria, such as Afrin, Serekaniye, and areas near Kilis and Manbij. In the past, the SNA was used by Turkey to attack Kurds. For instance, in 2018, Turkey invaded Afrin, and the SNA ethnically cleansed more than 150,000 Kurds.
HTS has promised Kurds that they will be left alone and they are welcome to stay in areas the HTS controls. However, HTS has asked the SDF to leave. Turkey, watching the HTS advance against the Syrian regime, decided to take advantage and use the SNA to attack Kurds in Tal Rifaat.
Unfortunately, Ankara has cynically taken advantage of the HTS’s success against the regime to attack Kurds. Instead of using the SNA to fight the Syrian regime, the main goal of Turkey is to go after the SDF.
The Commander in Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi said on Monday that the SDF was evacuating people from the countryside near Aleppo. These included people who had fled Afrin in 2018 and are now displaced again. According to the media, eastern Syria is closed to the SDF, and the Kurds in this area are now under siege.
These include people in five IDP camps and the Shahba region. The current attacks by the SNA may affect tens or hundreds of thousands of people. It is not year clear how many because the Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, such as Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, may end up remaining if HTS can help broker a deal with them or even protect them from Ankara’s attacks. HTS is likely aware that Ankara is seeking to undermine its anti-Assad operations by creating a second conflict north of Aleppo that undermines the Syrian rebellion by creating ethnic divisions between Arabs and Kurds.
Iran and Russia back Damascus. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq may seek to move from Iraq to the frontline to help the Syrian regime. Iran’s foreign minister flew to Damascus on December 1 and then to Ankara to discuss the situation. Meanwhile, western countries have called for de-escalation. This will not help the Kurds, who are now fleeing and being displaced again. To win the war against Assad the butcher, there is no place for sectarianism. The Kurds must be won over to the side of the rebels.
Support the rebels in the fight with Assad, the butcher!
The Kurds must be won to the side of the revolution!
For multi-national workers and poor peasants in Syria!
For the Arab revolution!