The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) has expressed concerns over a potential advancement in reconciliation between Damascus and Ankara.
“The recent unrest in Afrin, Al-Bab, Al-Rai, and Azaz is a direct result of Turkey’s closer ties with Damascus, which has demanded Turkish withdrawal from all Syrian territories,” Fathullah Husseini, representative of the AANES in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, told The New Arab on 3 July.
He added that Turkiye’s promise to protect armed opposition groups on its payroll, namely the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) coalition of factions, has been undermined by talks between Damascus and Ankara.
Husseini said that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US-backed Kurdish militia linked to the AANES, has “no military plans” aimed at the city of Afrin in northeast Syria and is committed to agreements for “self-protection and anti-terrorism” with the illegal occupying US army in the country.
“Any Turkish–Syrian agreement on northwest Syria would primarily impact Kurds [negatively], including the AANES and the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, where Turkey has intensified operations against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bases,” Husseini warned.
He also condemned Damascus’ “limited commitment” to talks between the AANES and the Syrian government.
There is a longstanding tension between the Arabs and the US-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Last year, Arab tribes rallied together in an armed rebellion against the SDF in several areas, including northeastern Deir Ezzor.
Several months earlier, AANES and SDF representatives had been holding dialogue with the Syrian government. Despite tension between Damascus and the Kurds due to the latter’s aspirations for autonomy and independence in Syria, the SDF has expressed openness to coordinating with Syria against Turkish occupation.
The deputy co-chair of the AANES Executive Council, Hassan Kocher, told Hawar news agency on Wednesday that the autonomous administration is ready for talks with Damascus and for “the liberation of [Turkish] occupied areas alongside the Syrian army.”
He warned that Ankara takes advantage of all parties to advance its agenda and that Damascus “should not be fooled by these tricks.”
“The Damascus government must know that if it enters into any alliance with Turkey, it will lose Syria, and if it is in favor of dialogue or any agreement, we are ready.” He added that dialogue between Syria and the AANES is ongoing, with the aim of “reaching any agreement and solution that achieves stability for the region and the country.”
He also said the government should “abandon” the view that the AANES is a threat to Syria.
“We do not pose any threat to any party and we are not enemies to any party. We seek to build Syria and preserve the sovereignty of the country’s territories. We have always said that we are ready to liberate the occupied Syrian regions in partnership with the Syrian army,” Kocher said.
On 2 July, the commander of the US-backed SDF, Mazloum Abdi, commented on the latest unrest across northern Syria.
“No matter how much we differ, the issue of national dignity and the independence of the Syrian decision remain basic goals that unite us all,” Abdi said. The SDF commander said his “hand is extended to all Syrians” in the areas controlled by his militia, considering them “among his brothers.”
Hours earlier, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the SDF, called for dialogue between the Kurds and Syrian opposition forces. The SDC affirmed its support of recent anti-Turkish protests in northern Syria.
Turkiye temporarily closed the Bab al-Hawa crossing on Syria’s northern border on 1 July, coinciding with clashes between occupying Turkish forces and armed demonstrators, as protests erupted against the Turkish presence in northern Syria following mob attacks on Syrian refugees in central Turkiye.
The attacks on Syrian businesses and property in the central Turkish town of Kayseri came after rumors circulated that a Syrian refugee had sexually abused his seven-year-old relative.
The Bab al-Salam, Al-Rai, and Jarablus border crossings were also closed.
At least four Syrians were killed in clashes between protestors and Turkish forces in Afrin and Jarablus in northeast Syria, while 20 more were injured.
In video footage circulating social media, an angry Syrian man is heard yelling at a Turkish soldier, accusing Ankara of “selling us to Bashar,” indicating that the protests also related to Syrian discontent with the potential resumption of reconciliation talks between Syria and Turkiye.
Damascus has repeatedly vowed over the months that it will not move forward with talks unless there is a Turkish commitment to withdraw its forces from Syria and end support for extremist factions, namely the SNA coalition.
Iraqi-mediated Syrian–Turkish talks are expected to be held in Baghdad in the near future.