Not long ago, the US voiced its objection to Syrian and Russian airstrikes in northern Syria that led to the uprooting of nearly 250,000 people from the Idlib region. While America's criticism of the Syrian and Russian airstrikes is justified, the Trump administration should be equally critical of the Turkish government and its activities in the Afrin region. In fact, it should use every means at its disposal to support America's Kurdish allies rather than withdrawing from the region.
The human rights situation in Afrin is horrific. According to Relief Web, human rights groups are expressing concern that civilians are increasingly being abused by rebel groups in the Afrin region. Kurdistan 24 reported that Turkish-backed militants in Syria's Afrin region abducted and murdered a disabled child. The child's father and grandfather were also executed, reportedly because their families could not secure the $100,000 ransom. According to the report, Adnan Afrin, a commander with the Syrian Democratic Forces, declared: "The so-called local councils in Afrin, supported by the Turkish occupation, are responsible for these crimes and they are partners in shedding the blood of our people in Afrin." According to an Amnesty International report from August 2018, "Turkish forces are giving Syrian armed groups free rein to commit serious human rights abuses against civilians in the northern city of Afrin."
More recently, the Turkish newspaper Ahval reported that the UN International Commission of Inquiry on Syria confirmed that not much has changed since then: "There are numerous cases involving arbitrary arrests by armed group members, as well as credible allegations of torture and ill-treatment. Such acts reportedly targeted particularly individuals of Kurdish origin while arrests on some occasions were followed by confiscation of those individuals' property. Civilians in Afrin also complained of pillaging by armed groups and criminal gangs, particularly of the olive harvest, a major source of income in the district. Instead of appropriating the olive harvest, other armed groups levied a tax on farmers. The commission said it had also received reports of harassment including of women by armed group members and demands for bribes from individuals wishing to pass checkpoints."
Turkey's human rights abuses in Afrin threaten not only America's Kurdish allies but the US, itself. Should Kurdistan be ethnically cleansed of Kurds, Yezidis, Christians and other pro-US groups, Iran will be able to establish its Shia Crescent from Tehran through Iraq and Syria to the Mediterranean Sea, emboldening Iranian aggression in the Middle East and throughout the world. This would adversely affect not only the US but also America's Middle Eastern allies: Israel and the Gulf Arab countries. For all of these reasons, America and its allies must stand up for the Kurds in Afrin.
Syrian Kurdish dissident Sherkoh Abbas, who heads the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria, stated in an exclusive interview: "While Turkey is trying to change Afrin in order to prevent the establishment of any Kurdish region in Syria, they made concessions for Russia on the Iranian front. We see them fortifying their allies' positions by displacing Kurds and Yezidis and bringing in Islamists. Most of the people running Afrin today are at best equivalent to al-Qaida. Most of them could be linked to ISIS. It is a dangerous game for Turkey to play. Leaving Afrin to the Turks will be like allowing all of the Islamists including Iran and ISIS to run the region. I don't think this is what Americans want. It is essential for America to realize that Turkey has crossed a line. A NATO ally that has an agreement with Russia and Iran has no goodwill for America. The Sunni Crescent that is being cultivated to fight the Shia Crescent won't work. It is time to realize that Turkey under Erdogan is not America's friend. It is time to recognize Syria as a failed state and to establish a Kurdish state in a Syria free from Iran, Assad, ISIS, Turkey, and others."
Iran and Erdogan are already deeply entrenched in Syria; it will not be easy to remove Syria from their grip. However, recognizing Syria to be a failed state, breaking it up and establishing a Kurdish state, a Druze state, an Alawite state, etc. on the ruins of Syria, would prevent Erdogan, Rouhani, and Assad from declaring a complete victory. According to the Kurdish dissident Abbas, "If we want the Iran sanctions to work, we have to bar them from the Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese market. That means denying the Islamic republic the ports and other resources within the countries that Iran controls."
According to Mendi Safadi, head of the Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Public Relations and Human Rights, "The conduct of the armed groups in Afrin is very worrying by every human parameter. The Islamist militias carry out war crimes and crimes against humanity daily in Afrin. The American administration has the responsibility to defend the only group that really fought against ISIS and removed it from large parts of Syria. The Kurds fought like lions in the mountains. The men and women of Kurdistan managed to prevent [ISIS leader Abu Bakr] Al-Baghdadi's dream from being realized. Therefore, Afrin is a red line that must not be permitted to be crossed. The falling of Afrin and the Kurdish territories in Syria would be like the collapse of Washington DC"
