The original source of this article is Global Research
Part I: Syria: The Criminal Empire’s Strategy Of Divide, Conquer, and Destroy
The US-led coalition of war criminals is using elements of Syria’s Kurdish population to achieve the U.S Empire’s goal of destroying the non-belligerent, democratic country of Syria, led by its hugely popular, democratically-elected President, Bashar al-Assad. [1]
Empire seeks to create sectarianism and ethnic divides in a country that, prior to the Western-launched criminal dirty war, had neither.
President al-Assad is well aware of the imperial forces behind the mercenaries invading his country. In a speech to the newly elected members of the People’s Assembly of Syria (Syria’s
Parliament) on 7 June 2016[2], he elaborated upon the modus operandi of the invaders:
• They seek to attack the constitution by means of a so-called “transition” stage.
• They seek to destroy the two pillars of the government: the army and the diverse, national, pan-Arab and religious identity of Syrians.
• They seek to rebrand the savage terrorists as “moderates” and then to eternally provide them with a cover of legitimacy.
• They seek to create chaos, sectarianism, and ethnic enclaves that turn the people’s commitment from the homeland to conflicting groups that seek help from foreigners against their own people.
• They seek to be branded as “humanitarian” and “protectors” to save the people from (externally engineered) conflict and misery.
By imposing economic and armed terrorism on Syrians, by waging a phony war against their own terrorist proxies (including ISIS and al Qaeda), by creating sectarian and ethnic tensions, and by destroying Syria’s infrastructure — including water and electrical infrastructure — the Western, Zionist, and GCC agencies of terrorism seek to be perceived as saviours, humanitarians and protectors, who can then introduce the “free market” of international capital, which will be the coup de grâce to effect the final destruction of the host country. And mainstream fake news provides the criminal warmongers with on-going, 24/7 cover to commit their war crimes.
When a family chooses to leave, terrorists are quick to occupy the house, and to claim ownership.
Syrian-American Sarah Abed, was born in Al Qamishly and has lived in both the USA and Syria throughout her life. She makes frequent trips back and forth. Sarah is in direct daily contact with family and friends that reside in different parts of Syria. Sarah conducted and translated an interview with a close family friend, “Samir”, who lives in Syria and is well informed about the conditions on the ground.
Samir’s commentaries are consistent with President Assad’s assessment of the Imperialists’ strategy of “divide and conquer”:
Question: What was life like in Al Hasaka prior to the launch of the dirty war on Syria?
Answer: Life was great. The diversity was a positive attribute to the area. Al Hasaka is influenced by the Turkish, Syrian, and Kurdish cultures. You would see Turkish soap operas on local TV. , hear Turkish music, along with Merdali, and other types in the streets, blaring from the speakers of cars. I used to go to the music shops and pick up the latest Turkish songs. There were many restaurants, hospitals, hotels, and outdoor parks. Kurds had assimilated into the culture. They were considered Syrian citizens. Many of the Christians had family in Sweden. They would come for the summer. There were good relations between all of the different ethnicities and religious affiliations. It was hard to distinguish who was who in the streets. There was a bustling social life and people were generally content with their lives.
Question: Did the Kurds have equal opportunities for education, healthcare, and work?
Answer: Since the 19th century when most of the Kurds came into Syria there was a peaceful coexistence. Kurds lived and interacted with Muslim and Christian Syrians. Yes, they had equal rights in every sector. They attended schools with the Syrian government approved Arabic curriculum. They had access to free education, free healthcare, must like their Syrian counterparts. They were in fact Syrian Kurds and were not treated any differently.
Question: Are the people in Al-Hasaka well educated? Well informed?
Answer: Yes, they were considered to be among the most educated people in Syria. They are also very conscious of what is happening in their country as well as abroad. Education was very important and they took pride in it. Many had completed college. Kurds represent about 30% of the population in the Al-Hasaka governorate.
Question: How does the rest of the population feel about Kurdish aspirations for independence from Syria?
Answer: Syrians are not entirely surprised by these recent demands by the Kurds for autonomy. They are however upset by it. Syrians feel that the Kurds were allowed to come in and have lived in Syria for centuries and were treated fairly therefore the need to now take a part of the country and claim it as their own federation is quite frankly an insult to the hospitality they were shown. They feel as though the Kurds are being unappreciative and are only looking out for their own interest and not taking into account the Syrians that live in the area. Kurds are the minority yet their demands for autonomy and to take over the areas that they have alleged are now their property is very unfair to Syrians in the area. Kurds moved into Syria and called it home, but now they are acting like the Syrians in their areas are living in their federation and need to abide by their rules and share their views and follow their commands or else they will be driven out of their homes. This is a very harsh and criminal way to treat others. Lest we forget that Kurds are ultimately nomads and their alliance lies with Israel.
Question: Do all Kurds in the area want independence from Syria?
Answer: In the beginning of the war the Kurds fought alongside the Syrian army, they were paid, armed, and trained by the SAA. When the USA came in and basically created the SDF Syrian Democratic Forces that’s when the Kurds became more adamant about wanting independence and autonomy. This is a very important point that needs to be made clear, The USA’s involvement in Syria led to the Kurds demanding autonomy. Had the US military not given them weapons, training, armed vehicles, and most likely paid them wages as well there is a good chance that the Kurds would not have made these demands. Not all Kurds want independence but those who speak up against it are silenced and told to not say anything or else they will be sent out of the country. They have received threats that saying anything negative about the Kurdish desires for autonomy will have negative consequences.
Question: Why do they want independence? Did Assad government not treat them well? Did the U.S government promise support and democracy and other lies?
Answer: They have always wanted to establish Kurdistan, that has been a life- long desire of theirs stemming from centuries ago. They are originally nomads that moved into countries such as Syria, Iraq, Turkey but their origins are in Iran. It was brought up from time to time but recently it has been discussed more openly and adamantly. It has now become a demand and one they will stop at nothing to achieve. This is quite problematic and many people in the region are waiting to see how this will unfold. It is surely a battle, the end results are unknown. The Kurds were treated well and did not have any issues with the Syrian Government. They had equal rights, free education, free healthcare like the rest of the Syrians. Many do not have a passport which makes traveling legally an issue but it doesn’t seem to be a big concern for them.
Question: How have the illegal Western sanctions on Syria impacted the Al-Hasaka area?
Answer: The illegal sanctions have had a detrimental affect on the entire country. Due to its location in the North East of the country at times it felt like the Hasaka province was cut off from the rest of Syria. It was not receiving any sort of shipments from the other parts of Syria and had to rely on goods coming in from Iraq that were originally made in Turkey and Iran such as food, oil, rice, sugar, sanitary products, children’s items such as diapers and formula. At some points during the war the only thing they were receiving from inside of the country was Medicine coming from Damascus, even this was cut off during certain periods. Medical concerns and issues have multiplied and caring for illnesses and health conditions has become a big concern. It is both very expensive and also very difficult to find medicine and items such as infant formula. Another concern is that medical equipment has now become outdated and most of the machines do not work. Spare parts to repair them are unavailable. Most people with severe health conditions have had to move out of the area. The price of everything has multiplied. In 2015-2016 people had to rely on whatever products, food, healthcare, medicine, and everyday products that were already in the stores.. nothing else was being brought in. The demand was still there but the supply was dwindling and that of course caused severe economic turmoil and inflation. Another issue related to the sanctions is that right now there are no exports from Syria, which in turn made the price of the dollar rise which then had a negative effect on everything else. For instance the price of infant formula had reached 5,000 syp which is about 10x what it was worth before.. some people were stating they are willing to pay 10,000 syp for a few days of formula but even that was difficult to locate in the stores. For the past few months they have been receive more medicine.
Question: What do other people in the governorate think about the Mandatory Self-Defence Duty
And the prospect of killing Syrian soldiers?
Answer: In Al Qamishly they have had a few conflicts between the SAA and the Kurdish soldiers. The last one was nine months ago and it lasted for four days. Right now they are not having any issues, but there is tension and it could break out into a fight at any time. Last time they killed four Syrian soldiers, and at that time there were Arabs who said they would no longer fight against the Syrian army, and they gave up their weapons and left the SDF. They refused to fight against the Syrian soldiers.
When they are taking over new areas they are forcing the people in the new area to fight along with them. There were a few families in the villages that refused to fight along with them and they kicked them out of the villages and claimed that their homes now belong to the Kurds and they are not to return and claim their properties in the future.
Question: What happens if citizens refuse to fight the SAA? Are they threatened?
Answer: See above yes, they were given an ultimatum either fight with us or you will be forced to leave and forfeit their properties. Usually they would then move to other villages or the city where they are not forced to fight alongside the Kurds. Once you start fighting with them, you are forced to fight whoever they need you to fight against and that includes the Syrian Army. You become trapped and ordered to follow their commands
Question: Do some people have no option? (ie fight against Syria or starve? Fight or go to jail? )
Answer: As mentioned previously yes, the ultimatum is either fight with us or you will relinquish your property and move out of town. They have already done this numerous times.
Question: Which country is paying the Kurdish soldier wages? How do they receive payment? Are they paid better than SAA soldiers?
Answer: Initially when they were fighting alongside the SAA it was the Syrian government that was paying their wages. Then the USA got involved and they formed the Syrian Democratic Forces on October 10th 2015. Right now we are not certain who is paying their wages, but it is rumoured that the U.S is the one providing them with money since we know that they are providing them with weapons, training and armoured vehicles.
Question: Are some of the Kurdish leaders criminals?
Answer: Many of the local leaders didn’t hold any titles or ranks before the war, they didn’t have any army or political experience. They were not educated or well to do and most of them were in fact troublemakers with prior criminal convictions. These are on the local level. A differentiation needs to be made between the local leaders and their followers and the ones that came from Qandal Moutains in Turkey. On the local level yes they were smugglers and it’s been said that some are in the drug business. They loitered and stole items from the shops and homes in the areas they took control over. They were considered thugs. The ones that are coming from Qandal mountains have political and military experience.
Question: Can you tell us about the SDF?
Answer: First, I want to say that it’s not what the USA is trying to make it out to seem. The USA needed to support a group of people in Syria that did not have direct ties to terrorist groups. They did this after their union with the Free Syrian Army and “moderate rebels” fell through when it became clear that these were nothing less than terrorists and had ties to Al Qaeda and Daesh. The allies of SDF are the USA, France, UK, and a number of other smaller groups. Their headquarters is in AlQamishly. They state that they have about 50,000 fighters but we are unsure of that. They are mostly Kurdish and recently just a few days ago a large number of fighters defected from the SDF. They are led by the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and their goal is to create their own federation in the NE of Syria. There are US forces embedded with the SDF forces. The Pentagon confirmed the arms, ammunition, rifles, mortars, and ammunition it sent to them. The USA is heavily funding them and recently stated that they would continue to train and equip forces of the Manbij Military council.
Conclusion:
Sarah’s interview with Samir was a process that extended over a period of time, and she has amplified and clarified some of his commentaries.
What is clear is that the US and its allies, in particular Turkey in this case, are committing crimes of aggression against the sovereign state of Syria beneath the Big Lie of combatting terrorism. The real plan, which is self-evident in this overview of the Kurdish issue, is to divide, conquer, and destroy Syria through economic and armed terrorism.
When a family chooses to leave, terrorists are quick to occupy the house, and to claim ownership.
Notes
[1] Mark Taliano, Voices Form Syria, Global Research Publishers, 2017, 15
[2] “President al-Assad: Our war on terrorism continues, we will liberate every inch of Syria,” Syrian Arab News Agency, 7 June 2016. (http://sana.sy/en/?p=79525) Accessed 1 March 2017.
Part II: Empire Uses Kurds as Pawns in its Imperial Pursuits in Syria
Introduction by Sarah Abed:
The situation in the North East of Syria regarding the Kurds seems to be a topic of confusion for most. Understandably so as they have been made to appear by US politicians and news outlets as the most effective fighters against terrorism in Syria. Although they have in fact been successful in driving out terrorists in some areas there is information that needs to be discussed that explains the other half of the story that is purposely hidden in the Kurdish and mainstream media news outlets. We have only been hearing from the Kurdish side now it’s time for the Syrians in Kurdish held areas to have their chance to tell us about the hardships they have been put under by the Kurds.
I have been actively collecting information and conducting interviews with Syrians who live in Kurdish held areas since 2015. Some reached out to me in hopes that their message will reach the West. They have read what the Kurdish and Western mainstream media news says about the situation in their area and are disheartened that the truth is not being told.
As a Syrian America who was born in Al Qamishly and having experienced living there before the war I felt it was my moral obligation to make sure their voices were being heard. In this article the second in a series that focuses on the situation in the lesser known and often misreported North East of Syria we will discuss in more detail how life has changed for Syrians due to the Kurds taking on an illegal leadership role in the area.
Treatment of non-Kurds by the minority Kurd population in Al Hasaka (also referred to as Hasaka) governorate is unethical and criminal.
The minority Kurd population in Qamishly treats the majority non-Kurd population poorly. They are trying to impose their will on everyone by force. They pretty much have the Hasaka governorate under their control and those that oppose them are usually driven out of their homes. They are monopolizing everything for themselves trying to maintain self-Governance. They are placing unqualified people in positions of power, there is no law whatsoever to control the area. They are willing to take anyone who agrees to fight with them, even if they are criminals they get them out of jail immediately so that they can grow their army. PKK fighters were brought into Syria from the Qandil Mountains in Turkey and made managers and heads of institutions in the Hasaka governorate. They are very authoritative and Syrians fear them. Kurds differentiate and provide better treatment to the Yazidi and Kurds that are displaced in Syrian than the Syrian Arabs. All passages from Turkey and North Iraq are under Kurdish control.
The Syrian government condemns separatist Kurdish ambitions and vows to keep Syria united as one country.
Lately, Kurds have been more vocal about their desire to create a federation. The areas they want to claim are Al-Malkiya to Efrin, the entire border line with Turkey including Al-Malkiya, Qamishli, Hassaka, Ein Arab, Al-bab, Efrin, in addition to the rural villages. They have also mentioned that if they are able to liberate Al Raqqah they will add that to their federation. As can be seen in their SDF insignia. The USA’s support to the SDF as was mentioned in more detail in the first article which can be read (here- please insert a link to the first article) has had a negative impact on Syrians and infringed on their sovereignty. USA is preparing to build a second military base in Syria at Tel-Baidar.
SDF soldiers (source: Wikipedia)
SDF insignia (source: Wikipedia)
The NATO-aligned Kurdish minority corrupts the Syrian educational system.
Education which was once an area of pride for the Hasaka region has now become one of the worst catastrophe’s as a result of the Kurds. They have imposed a new school curriculum unaccredited by the Syrian State. Almost all government schools are now under Kurdish control. Kurds are teaching Kurdi in all of the nongovernment elementary schools, next year they will implement this in all middle schools under their control and the following year their plan is to implement this in high schools as well. Syrians in Kurdish areas are not able to study in Kurdi and have either pulled their children out of the Kurdi schools or send their children to Syriac schools which have limited space, at the moment they have 1,800 students. The only other option is to send their children to schools that are government held but farther away from their homes. Even Kurdish teachers are struggling with teaching the Kurdi curriculum. There is one private University Qurtuba in the Hasaka region.
Illegal Western sanctions are benefitting the un-elected Kurdish minority that is imposing its undemocratic will on the community.
All daily activities are monitored by the Kurds. Social life in general has seen a drastic decline. Before the war the streets were bustling with movement and music. Restaurants were opened on every corner. Now people are afraid of assembling for fear of being targeted by terrorists. An example of this took place in Al Qamishly when a restaurant was targeted by a suicide bomber in December 2015 and at least 16 people were killed. Kurds demanding federalism make up 30% of population. Churches and mosques are practicing their religious rituals quite normally. I wrote about a specific Syriac church that one of the individuals I interviewed goes to every Sunday and also included pictures in this article
Living in isolation
The general consensus of Syrians in the Hasaka area is that they feel isolated from the rest of the country. They feel that Syrians in other parts of the country do not know much about their living conditions. The only way to travel outside of the Hasaka region is via plane. The airport in Al Qamishly is operating, but until about a year ago it was simply too expensive for the average citizen to travel via air. An airplane ticket from Al Qamishly to Damascus reached 80,000 Syrian Pounds (3 times the average salary in the country) which would equate to about $160 USD. About a year ago, two new airlines started operating in Syria, so the price decreased and it became more affordable but is still out of many people’s budget.
Efforts to balkanize Syria are increasing the displacement of Syrians and causing Christians to flee Syria
Migration has become a major issue. Just this past month, more than 80 Christian families have left Qamishli, Al-Malikiya and Al-Qahtaniya. Most of those families took asylum in Belgium, Australia and Sweden, and most likely they will not return as long as the situation in the country unstable, said Samir one of my contacts in Al Qamishly . Al-Malkiya is almost empty of Christians now. It is estimated that 50% of Hasaka Christians have left; the majority of those who have left to Turkey were Christians (different ethnicities). Also a fair number of Kurds also left to Turkey.
Humanitarian aid is being provided by the UN, WFP, UNHCR, Armenian and Syriac churchs.
UN is participating is helping people; teaching governmental curriculum for free to anyone who wants it, distributing food to families in need, and coordinating with different UN organizations operating in Al Hasaka. WFP (World food program) is also providing nutritional support. Also they are implementing development programs, like supporting bread bakeries and maintaining general hygiene. Armenian and Syriac church’s have also been helping citizens but their resources are very limited.
Concluding remarks:
Imperialists are instrumentalizing the Kurdish minority to balkanize Syria, to destroy its nation-state self-determination, to destroy its sovereignty, and to destroy its territorial integrity. These violations derogate international law, and undermine world peace, prosperity, and democracy.
Whereas the Syrian government and its allies are aligned with the forces of international and national law and order, the West and its allies — including all of the terrorists in Syria, and a minority of the Kurdish population – continue to be perpetrators of the highest crimes according to Nuremburg principles.
If the West succeeds in carving out a part of Syria, ostensibly to serve Kurdish interests, more Western military installations will be built on Syrian soil, and the Kurds will soon discover that their new polity, in whatever form it may take, will become a corrupt stooge “government” at the service of Empire.
Sarah Abed is a Syrian American independent investigative political commentator who focuses on exposing the lies and propaganda in mainstream media news and social media. She is a truth advocate who uses her social media accounts and website The Rabbit Hole www.sarahabed.com to counter the fictitious stories and allegations that are part of a well-funded, highly intellectual, emotionally driven media campaign against Syria. Her goal is to help end the war in Syria by educating the masses. She has spoken on radio shows and contributed to news publications.
The Rabbit Hole
Denying the truth, doesn’t change the facts.
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