Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
by SSM Editor, October 7, 2023
According to a report from Reuters, the Turkish bombers targeted Kurdish militants in northern Syria killing 58. Turkey is retaliating against a PKK attack on a Turkish military base launched from YPG territory in Northern Syria. Turkish president Erdogan maintains that all YPG militants are PKK terrorists. However, the United States SDF proxy forces in northern Syria are led by and largely composed of YPG militants.
Meanwhile, over the last few weeks. The local Arabs have been attacking the SDF forces (i.e. the U.S. proxies0 in the region due to their harsh treatment of local Arab tribesman by those forces. These tribes have numerous complaints against the SDF including cultural kurdification of their communities, hoarding of resources, forced conscription of young people and most recently, the murder of an important tribal leader.
Hayt Tarhrir al Sham militants from Idlib have, on occasion, joined with the northeastern Arab tribesmen in their attacks on the SDF, and even the Syrian government has greenlighted this grass roots uprising against a foreign force controlling Syrian territory. Turkish president Erdogan insists that despite their relationship with the United States, the Kurdish PKK forces are terrorists who have in the past, and continue to commit crimes in their native Turkey.
The reason YPG affiliated Kurds were living in northern Syria is that over the course of the 20th century, they were driven out of Turkey, and allowed, to form refugee communities in Syria. By taking the U.S. as their sponsor, these fighters have betrayed their relationship with the Syrian state. By attacking Turkey, they risk their relationship with their U.S. sponsors.
The struggle between the Kurdish PKK and the Turks is an old one, and it is true they were not fairly treated. Even so, their treatment of the Syrian people who welcomed them as refugees is also not fair. They want their own country, but their roots are in Turkey, not Syria. After a decade of U.S. support, they are treating local Arabs as well as Turkish citizens in an arrogant and violent manner. The result cannot be good.
At the same time, Uyghurs living in the Idlib province of Syria attacked a Syrian military graduation a few days ago, killing nearly 100, and injuring close to 300 more, mostly civilians who came to the graduation ceremony to celebrate the graduation of their friends and family members. Not surprisingly, the Syrian armed forces retaliated against the Uyghur held areas in Idlib.
The Uyghurs, a Turkic people from western China, came to Syria to fight against the government in hopes, like the Kurds, of founding a new homeland. Turkish President Erdogan supported them to come from China with their families to fight a “holy war” to ‘retake’ Turkish lands for themselves. Today, there are thousands of Uyghurs living in northern Idlib on the Turkish border with their families.
President Assad of Syria, just had a very positive visit to China where he and his family were greeted warmly by politicians and ordinary people as well. The Chinese government, which is not intimidated by U.S. sanctions discussed development projects with him, and they signed mutual support agreements that would allow these projects to proceed inside Syria. A Chinese Television interview shows Bashar Assad wreathed in smiles, something we haven’t seen in years. Meanwhile, “back on the ranch” as we American settlers used to say, all Hell has broken loose.
It is a sad contrast, but Syria’s future remains bright. Terrorism can cause a huge amount of suffering, but the world will move on, and Syria will rejoin international society with the respect and dignity it deserves.
