For all those committed to the success of the new Syria, the sight of serious and sustained violence between the country’s military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces over the past few days will be a source of grave concern.
Reporting from Aleppo yesterday, The National learned that the Syrian army was continuing its effort to control territory that has been held by Kurdish forces for several years now. The army announced it has taken over Tabqa and the Syrian authorities want to ensure control over all the country's territories. As if this latest exposure of Syria’s fault lines was not alarming enough, accusations from both sides of atrocities – such as claims of the summary execution of prisoners and detainees in Tabqa – reveals the danger present in this current situation.
How this conflict ends remains to be seen. Ultimately the Syrian authorities in charge in Damascus want to ensure control over all the country. As of yesterday, fighting had extended into areas of Deir Ezzor as the army made a lightning advance. According to the state oil company, Syria’s military captured the country’s main energy-producing area from the SDF. If true, this would be a stinging blow to the group that, with US support, was once one of the country's most powerful organisations.
There are two important and valid dynamics at play here: the right of the Kurdish community – and other Syrian minorities – to live free from violence and coercion, and the need for Syrian state sovereignty and cohesion. The presence of a powerful armed group outside Damascus’s control was always going to be problematic for the country’s future, especially when that group as expressed desires of autonomy. It has been disappointing to see talks about incorporating SDF fighters into a unified Syrian military end in stalemate. However, despite everything, it is possible to reconcile such dynamics successfully.
It has been welcome to see President Ahmad Al Shara make overtures to the Kurdish community at the same time. On Friday, Mr Al Shara issued a decree affirming the rights of Kurdish Syrians, formally recognising their language and restoring citizenship to members of the country's largest minority. The decree bans ethnic or linguistic discrimination, requires state institutions to adopt inclusive national messaging and sets penalties for incitement to ethnic strife.
This is a good step but the evident breakdown in trust between the SDF and the Syrian government needs to be resolved urgently before the fighting claims more lives. There are signs that the US is bringing its diplomatic weight to bear on this. On Friday, US envoy Tom Barrack said America was “working around the clock to lower the temperature”. Mr Barrack then met Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani in Erbil on Saturday before a scheduled meeting with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi yesterday. Mr Barzani’s involvement is significant, having played a key role in mediating between Mr Abdi and the Syrian government before. The KDP leader also knows the value of establishing real and stable autonomy for the Kurdish community inside a federal state.
However, as Syria enters the second year of its post-Assad era, it must find better ways of resolving internal differences. The violence seen in north-east Syria has had alarming parallels in other troubled regions such as Sweida and Latakia. Whatever battlefield gains are made, failure to build a genuinely inclusive country leaves to door open to more violence in the future.
