A top Syrian Kurdish official has rejected Turkish calls for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to give up their weapons as part of Ankara’s broader peace efforts with Kurdish militants, saying the situation in Syria requires integration, not the laying down of arms.
Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava), told BBC’s Turkish service that the SDF’s continued armed presence is necessary due to ongoing security threats, particularly from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) remnants and the lack of a permanent Syrian constitution.
Syrian Kurdish official rejects Turkish calls to lay down arms, says SDF seeks integration instead
The U.S. continues to back the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—a coalition dominated by the YPG, which Turkey sees as indistinguishable from the PKK. Despite the PKK’s recent disarmament announcement, Washington has resuscitated funding and military coordination with the SDF—a coalition whose very name was crafted to obscure its PKK lineage. This comes even as the U.S. consolidates its military presence to a single base in Hasakah, signaling a shift from occupation to strategic entrenchment.
In 2019, as Trump was weighing a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria during his first term, Tulsi Gabbard brought Ilham Ahmed—the then-head of the Syrian Democratic Council, political wing of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Rojava—as her guest to Trump’s second State of the Union. The message was clear: autonomy should have air support. Ahmed currently serves as Co-Chair of the Foreign Affairs Department of Rojava, also known as the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
Related:
Trump should be convinced of US pullout from Syria- but… (Disarmament, dissolution of YPG)
The SDF equals the YPG/PKK/Kurds: A timeline of the PKK’s war on Türkiye
The seal on the left is the seal of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR). The seal on the right is of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). According to Reason, the CJTF–OIR is embedded with the SDF (see below*).
But Ahmed al-Sharaa AKA Abu Mohammad al-Julani said that the Kurds were the brethren of Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). /s
International anarchist and leftist groups declare their support for SDF
International League of Peoples’ Struggle:
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman José María Sison organized the ILPS in 2001.
*Syria’s Rojava [Where They Run Torture Camps] Is in Grave Danger +
The SDF equals the YPG/PKK/Kurds: A timeline of the PKK’s war on Turkey
Syria’s Rojava Revolution Is in Grave Danger (Reason magazine)
If the Kurdish-Arab alliance unravels, the U.S. military may decide to directly back Arab tribes as a bulwark against Iran and the Islamic State, according to Nicholas Heras, who has advised the U.S.-led military coalition in Syria and is now senior director for strategy at the nonprofit New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington. In 2019, when former President Donald Trump wanted to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, the Trump administration considered a strategy of letting the Kurdish forces fall to Turkey and buying off Arab tribes.
…
The United States has, directly and indirectly, backed all sides of the fight. Turkey is a NATO ally. Some of the SNA [Syrian National Army] units now attacking Kobane had received weapons and training from the CIA and the U.S. military. (After the Trump administration cut off support, a U.S. official condemned these same factions as “thugs, bandits, and pirates that should be wiped off the face of the earth,” and the Biden administration imposed human rights sanctions.) Meanwhile, several hundred U.S. troops are embedded with the SDF.
…
In his Sunday victory speech about the fall of the Assad government, President Joe Biden said that he wanted to support an “independent, sovereign—an independent—independent—I want to say it again—sovereign Syria.” But U.S. policy at the moment seems to be creating the opposite: a Syria chopped up [Balkanization] by foreign powers.
Rojava is also known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
Related:
Read More »The US is ‘involved in most aspects of the detention system’ that was set up in eastern Syria following the defeat of ISIS
Amnesty: US-Backed Kurds in Syria Are Running Torture Prisons Responsible for ‘Mass Death’
Related:
A new report insists the militant group now lacks the ‘intent and capability to direct attacks against the US homeland’
What ISIS threat? Washington says there is none.
Knew the majority, of this, but hadn’t put it all together in one place. New, to me, was her support of the Kurdish militias. I’ll probably duplicate this, onto its own page, where I can add more to it at a later date!
Ex-Dem Tulsi Gabbard Responds When Asked About Possibly Being Trump’s VP
The 42-year-old made an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” and admitted her secret ambition to be Trump’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election.
Research Notes:
Read More »US-sponsored terrorism in Syria continues and the past 48 hours were not an exception especially as the evil empire continues to be weakened and its hegemony continues to diminish across the globe, if you believe that the USA combats terrorism anywhere in the world, notably in Syria, please stop reading this post and go back to your comfort zone.
US-led Terrorism in Central and Northern Syria the Past 48 Hours
Video via Arabi S.
Related:
Former US Marine killed in Ukraine
Andrews worked for an activist group known as the Resistance Committee, according to their social media statements. They said he was killed assisting the evacuation of civilians from the city. Andrews left Cleveland, Ohio in November and joined the Foreign Legion in Ukraine, a group of foreign fighters helping the Ukrainian military. His contract ended in March, Mrs. Andrews said, and he decided to stay on.
Related:
Meet the motley crew of anarchists and anti-fascists fighting Russia in Ukraine
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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