Assad Remains in Power, Kurds Betrayed
When I was abroad in Jordan this past academic year, I stayed with a host family. My host mom, a Syrian Christian from the north, supported the al-Assad regime. The Syrian Assistant Director of my program, conversely, did not support the regime. There was a portrait of al-Assad in our home and when the assistant director come over, he later disclosed the portrait made him very uncomfortable. The regime has put the safety of his family at risk and forced him to leave the country he called home. With the new developments in the Syrian civil war, this place my director called home, just two hours from where I lived, is going to change radically for long future ahead.
There was a portrait of al-Assad in our home.
A lot has happened to Syria in the past few months. First, President Trump removed American troops from Syria and then announced the death of Al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS killed by a US raid. Since then, Russia, Turkey and the al-Assad regime have gained new power in the now eight-year-long Syrian civil war. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led Syrian militia with ties to the Iraqi and Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), have lost ground fighting against ISIS and the al-Assad government but maintained control over northeastern Syria, the territory that borders Turkey. Meanwhile, the government, pro-Assad forces had control over the rest of the country.
On October 6, President Erdogan of Turkey told President Trump that Turkish troops would soon invade Syria. Three days later, Trump announced he would withdraw troops. It seems a little strange that Trump suddenly decides to change a major, long-term military policy to align with a foreign leader whose interests oppose America’s interests. Erdogan’s invasion of Syria is in alliance with Russia’s established power in Syria, which goes directly against America’s historical foreign policy. America first entered the Syrian war as a continuation of the Cold War’s proxy wars to stop any potential control Russia may have in Syria. That was under President Obama, but Trump has a cozier relationship with President Putin of Russia than previous regimes, so it is not shocking that the anti-Russian narrative is beginning to fade.
It seems a little strange that Trump suddenly decides to change a major, long-term military policy to align with a foreign leader whose interests oppose America’s interests.
The withdraw of American troops created the power vacuum Turkey needed to increase its control in the region. Through this control, Turkey eventually split Kurdish territory. The Kurdish people who were previously supported by the US were left vulnerable to this destruction. It would be surprising if Trump did not see this happening with the knowledge of the Turkish invasion before he decided to withdraw American troops.
This Kurdish split is advantageous for Turkey, because of the SDF connection with the so-called terrorist group, the PKK in Turkey. Since the SDF’s territory borders Turkey, Turkey wanted to create a buffer zone between their State for power and safety. While fighting the SDF, Turkey is placing Arab and Turkish fighters against Kurdish fighters, which gives way for a possible ethnic conflict.
The Kurds, isolated and betrayed by the American withdrawal, were forced to make a deal with the devil, the Syrian government. This deal allowed al-Assad to gain control of the entire country, while the SDF was forced to retreat in exchange for protection from the Turkish military. The SDF leader said that this was a choice between genocide and compromise, so he chose compromise, thus prioritizing the lives of his people.
Trump has a cozier relationship with President Putin of Russia than previous regimes, so it is not shocking that the anti-Russian narrative is beginning to fade.
There are constant threats for civilians. From the possible reactivation of Islamic State fighters from sleeper cells and those who were released from imprisonment to possible imprisonment by military forces of anyone who speaks out against the government to the destruction of roads and thus inability for supplies from NGOs to come to the people who need it most.
With the decline of the SDF and the regain of control of government forces, conversations for the end of the war are finally beginning in the United Nations. Assad, backed by Turkey and Russia, leads a regime that slashes civilians’ inalienable rights. He will continue to rule unjustly as he did just ten years ago. With the masses of displaced people affected by this conflict, millions of refugees scattered around the globe and Kurdish people betrayed by their American allies. The people controlling the future of Syria (Erdogan of Turkey, Putin of Russia, and al-Assad of Syria) are corrupt, money and power-hungry dictators who do not have the lives, safety, and successful unification of their civilians in mind. It is important for the US to take a stand and protect vulnerable populations the US has betrayed, from refugees to Kurdish people.