A decision regarding the Syrian problem passed with little notice due to the busy world agenda last week. There was talk of a six-month transitional period in Syria, followed by elections.
Nobody considered the question as to how can a state be built in a country without a nation? Nobody asked, “What is the plan for the broad stretches under the control of Daesh and other radical groups?” As a matter of fact, the Syrian people should have taken such decisions but it is Russia and US that are calling the shots. And the regions discussed under the plan consisted only of Southwest Syria under regime’s control and the north, Rojaya, under the control of the YPG.
Observers may recall that Turkey had expressed its various concerns to the US. It said that any military aid for the PYD in Syria would be regarded as a hostile act against Turkey. The US, which explicitly referred to its military aid to the PYD during these announcements and stated that it supported autonomy under PYD leadership in the region, suddenly changed its tone on Nov. 4, saying that it would not even accept a semi-autonomous system in the region and that no military aid was being given to the PYD, but rather to Arab groups in the area.
The Arab groups in the region refer to Sanadid, and to Suwal Al-Raqqa that broke away from the Free Syrian Army. These two groups are known for their Stalinist ideology and act together with the YPG. A fictitious name, the “Syrian Democratic Forces” said to be fighting Daesh in the region, has recently come to prominence. This in fact symbolizes a grouping including the above-mentioned Arab groups and the YPG (the armed wing of the PYD). In other words, US weapons are directly reaching the YPG, but under a different name. The US Deep State is therefore playing with words in an effort to win Turkey over and avoid probable international condemnation.
International condemnation is the reason for this change in the US tone. Recent reports by international groupings on YPG indicated the severity of the situation. Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report in June documenting YPG violations of human rights. In a second report, in July, it described the horror of the PYD’s use of child soldiers. In October, Amnesty International documented how the YPG had directed US bombers toward areas with civilian populations and added its policy of repression of the local Arab population to the report. Amnesty International stated that the YPG had committed war crimes in the region and violated international law. At the same time, the Kurdish people in the Kurdish area of Syria carried out violent protests. These protests were against the YPD/YPG and were an uprising by local people against the PYD because of its violation of international humanitarian law.
The US concern entered the equation here. Directly arming the Stalinist YPG, a documented international war criminal, was dragging the US into a situation that would be difficult explain. The international community may have believed this change of tone, but very few people in Turkey have. The US policy of trying to win over the Turkish administration and people, experts on the Stalinist and terrorist PKK and its treachery, is a mistaken one.
In the immediate wake of these developments the issue of Jarabulus, the only area on the south line of Turkey that the YPG has failed to take, was again raised by the US. Jarabulus has long been in Daesh’s hands. The US wants to expel Daesh from the region.
In all likelihood only Turkey in the region can see the terrible consequences of the steps taken by the US Deep State to remove Daesh from various parts of Syria. It is as if a Stalinist YPG line along our border has been dreamed up in order to separate us from Muslim lands and make it easier for the PKK to settle on Turkish territory. It is sad to see how our ally, the US, is serving this plan.
The strategy is a familiar one; US planes bomb targets based on coordinates given by the YPG, and YPG militants then move in. Let us remember Tal Abyad, from where the Turkmens and Arabs were expelled after the YPG took control. The US showed pictures of what was said to be the FSA flag flying in the region to prove that the PKK/YPG terror organization had not moved in. Yet that flag actually belonged to none other than Suawal Al-Raqqa, which had broken away from the FSA and acts with the YPG. In other words, a ruse was being worked out under the name of the “Democratic Syrian Forces,” a virtual entity entirely deriving from the mindset of the YPG. Now the US Deep State wants to use a similar means to remove Daesh from Jarabulus with Turkish help. Yet the Turkish administration is unable to obtain an answer to the question, “What will happen once Daesh departs?” Because the safe zone along the Mare line proposed by Turkey was again rejected by the US at the G-20 summit in Turkey this week. Only one option therefore remains to move the virtual entity known as the “Democratic Syrian Forces” into the region; in other words, to move the PKK in.
It is difficult for us to understand the idea of seeking military help from Turkey in order to settle the PKK, Turkey’s sole enemy, along the Turkish border. However, name changes, political maneuvers and a veiled political language make it all the easier to raise such proposals.
The determined US backing for the PYD is of concern to Russia. Russia’s longstanding aim is to strengthen Baath rule in Syria. The precondition for that is a Baathist mindset, not Assad. Since the PYD adheres to the similar ideology, it would seem to be the only component in Syria on which the US and Russia can agree. If Syria’s future is to be built on this Stalinist terrorist basis, then even worse scourges clearly lie in wait for the Middle East. We hope that rational US and Russian leaders can grasp this before it is too late.
1- http://haber.star.com.tr/yazar/abd-pydye-silah-vermiyor-mu/haber-1067818
2- https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/06/19/under-kurdish-rule/abuses-pyd-run-enclaves-syria
3- https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/10/syria-kurdish-forces-violating-child-soldier-ban-0
4- https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2015/10/syria-us-allys-razing-of-villages-amounts-to-war-crimes/
Adnan Oktar's piece on Arab News: