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US responsibilities in Syrian Kurdistan

On November 20, 2019, the Washington Kurdish Institute held an event at the Russell Senate Office entitled, Repairing the Damage: The future of US relations with our Syrian Kurdish and the fight against ISIS. Following the Turkish offensive into northeastern Syria, Operation Peace Spring, nearly 300,000 Syrians have been displaced and more than 700 have been killed. The anti-ISIS campaign has been put at risk, including the potential escape of ISIS prisoners held in Syrian Democratic Force camps. The event proceeded with three keynote speeches from Senator Chris Von Hollen, Senator Marsha Blackburn, and Senator Mark Warner. All three advocated for bipartisan support for the Syrian Kurds, condemned the actions of Turkey, and warned the audience about the reemergence of ISIS.  

Following the remarks from the senators, a panel discussion began. The three panelists were Ilham Ahmed, President of the Syrian Democratic Council, Amy Austin Holmes, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and Visiting Professor at Harvard University, and Aykan Erdemir, former Turkish parliament member and currently a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The panel was moderated by Najmaldin Karim, President of the Washington Kurdish Institute.

Ahmed started the discussion by advocating that the governance structure that the Kurds established was a model for Syria that included gender equality, representation for the diverse ethnic groups in SDF controlled areas, and an example of democracy that has been unfamiliar in Syria. She condemned Turkey and the Turkish backed jihadist groups that have violated human rights in the land they have occupied. Ahmed called for the cessation of the slaughter of Kurds and Syrians in general, and to allow for the Kurdish democratic project to continue. She recommended that the Turkish backed jihadist groups should be sanctioned and listed as official terrorist organizations.

Amir continued that discussion by stating that there are two sides of the story in Turkey. First, is the official one: 79% of Turks polled support Operation Peace Spring They regard the SDF, YPG, and PKK as terrorists and national security threats to Turkey. Another view holds that Operation Peace Spring is an offensive maneuver against the Kurds. It is Erdogan’s war as much as it is Turkey’s war. Similar to an article written by Dr. Gonul Tol, Director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies, Amir argued that President Erdogan has faced domestic political turmoil and used the October invasion to rally the population against a common threat, the Kurdish population along the Turkey-Syria border.

A younger Erdogan, Amir reminded, started talks with the PKK, transformed Turkish attitudes towards the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government, and established a joint Turkish-YPG operation to protect the grave of Suleyman Shah, an important cultural site in Syria under threat from ISIS, in 2015. Amir claimed that the present-day Erdogan would jail officials for attempting to pursue any similar initiatives today.

Holmes reiterated the condemnation of human rights violations committed by Turkey and expressed her concern for the risk of ethnic cleansing in Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ayn like what was seen in Afrin. She recommended that the US establish a team on the ground monitoring abuses and war crimes as well as a fact-finding commission analyzing possible ties between the Turkish government and ISIS. She also called for international journalists and academics to be allowed to enter Afrin and report what they observe. Holmes stressed that a mechanism for border security must be established, but it cannot simply give Turkey strips of land. The Kurds represent 1/3 of the Syrian population and the US must pressure the UN to allow them to be included in the Constitutional Committee discussions in Geneva.