{"id":54268,"date":"2021-02-08T21:09:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T21:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=54268"},"modified":"2021-02-08T21:09:32","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T21:09:32","slug":"is-the-sdf-a-kurdish-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/54268\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the SDF a \u201cKurdish force?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 <\/strong>When it comes to the opinions about the northeast Syrian defense units known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Syrian regime, Turkey, and ISIS all have one thing in common: their vitriolic hatred for what they often describe, whether in a veiled or open manner, as a \u201cKurdish force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With tensions running high between the Syrian regime and the SDF in the cities of Qamishli and Hasakah since the beginning of 2021, this rhetoric has once again come to the forefront of many discussions about and accusations directed towards the SDF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This conception of the SDF as a \u201cKurdish force\u201d has spread far beyond the borders of propaganda by terror groups and dictatorial regimes, and has become a narrative used by even supposedly neutral analysts and news outlets. But is the SDF a Kurdish force?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cThe Kurds will attack you, kidnap your children, and loot your houses.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is what ISIS told Ahmed al-Hassan about the SDF during the ISIS occupation of his home city of Raqqa, ISIS\u2019 <em>de facto <\/em>capital during their takeover of large areas of Syria and Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These words sparked a kind of cautious curiosity in al-Hassan. Eventually, the SDF liberated his city and village, and al-Hassan, from the Arab al-Afadila clan in Raqqa, joined them in June 2017. Al-Hassan ended up joining and working with the SDF\u2019s media group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll of what ISIS said before is now being said by pro-regime sheikhs of Hasakah \u2013 that these \u2018Kurdish forces\u2019 control Arab regions and implement demographic change,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Hassan further explained that Arabs are present in all civil and military institutions of the Autonomous Administration, in Raqqa\u2019s Civil and Military Councils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;\u201cI saw all of them on the battlefield; Muslims and Christians, Kurds and Assyrians, and their guns were all pointed in one direction \u2013 at ISIS,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-for-middle-of-article-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-for-middle-of-article-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-for-middle-of-article-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-for-middle-of-article-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-for-middle-of-article-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-for-middle-of-article-390x220.jpg 390w, https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-for-middle-of-article.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The numbers don\u2019t lie \u2013 the SDF is undoubtedly a multi-ethnic, Arab-majority force by almost every metric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">68.7% of the 391 respondents interviewed by American <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/publication\/sdfs-arab-majority-rank-turkey-the-biggest-threat-to-ne-syria-survey-data-americas\">researcher Amy Austin Holmes during her 2019 survey of the SDF<\/a> were Arabs, making them the clear majority within the force. Kurds comprised just over 17% of the respondents, and Christians made up 12.5%.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Holmes recorded the representation of 46 different Arab tribes within the SDF, and over the course of her research has even encountered Arabs far from areas held by the SDF in northern and eastern Syria, <a href=\"https:\/\/merip.org\/2020\/07\/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces\/\">from as far away as Aleppo and Homs.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Multi-ethnic roots and leadership<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arab and other non-Kurdish individuals have risen in the ranks of the SDF since its establishment, further countering the narrative that non-Kurdish fighters are relegated to low-ranking positions or cannon fodder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the founders of the SDF, whose story has become almost a legend within the culture of northeast Syria, was himself of mixed Kurdish and Arab parentage. Kobani-born Faisal Sadoun, also known as Abu Leyla, was originally a commander in the Free Syrian Army fighting against the Islamic State and Syrian regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having participated in anti-ISIS offensives in Tel Abyad, Hasakah, Ain Issa, Shaddadi, and Sarrin, he eventually went on to become one of the founders of both the SDF and the Manbij Military Council, and the operation against ISIS in Manbij was named in his honor after his death in action in June 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tradition of non-Kurds in leadership continues to today. The spokesperson of the Deir ez-Zor Military Council, Lilwa al-Abdullah, is an Arab woman and native of the region who joined the SDF in 2016, fighting in numerous battles against ISIS including Manbij, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is no difference between Kurds, Arabs, or Assyrians,\u201d al-Abdullah stated in a September 2020 interview with Holmes, in which she asked al-Abdullah about reports of the allegedly \u201cKurdish-dominated\u201d SDF. \u201cThe ones who are mentioning this point are trying to create tension between us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Delegitimization and propaganda<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If numbers and the words of the SDF\u2019s own members discredit the narrative of the SDF as a Kurdish force, then why are so many regional actors stressing its supposedly \u201cKurdish\u201d nature as a negative point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">War propaganda will always be utilized by every party to a conflict. However, it is alarming that the false narrative of the \u201cKurdish\u201d SDF has seeped into discourse which is supposed to be factual and unbiased. France24 has referred to the SDF as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/20180727-syria-kurds-assad-talks-damascus-alliances\">a group of \u201cmostly Kurdish\u201d fighters<\/a>, al-Jazeera has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/10\/15\/who-are-the-syrian-democratic-forces\">called the SDF a \u201cKurdish group<\/a>,\u201d al-Monitor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/originals\/2021\/02\/syria-kurds-hope-lifeline-biden-turkey-erdogan-sdf-ypg-assad.html\">described the SDF as \u201cpredominantly Kurdish.\u201d<\/a> Even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/instant-article\/idUSKBN1WU1HS\">Reuters<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/pence-erdogan-kurdish-sdf-agree-to-120-hour-cease-fire-in-syria\/a-50866978\">German Deutsche Welle<\/a> have referred to the SDF as \u201cKurdish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The use of this language does not always come from a place of ill intent; some may even be an attempt to highlight Kurdish efforts against the Islamic State or their autonomy within northeast Syria. However, even well-intentioned descriptions play into anti-SDF narratives, giving further ammunition to pro-regime and pro-Turkish-backed opposition figures to frame the Kurds as an interloping minority infringing on the rights of an Arab majority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI find it ironic that the Assad regime and Erdogan are both using similar kinds of rhetoric against the SDF by claiming that it\u2019s a Kurdish force, or that it\u2019s only Kurds in the SDF and YPG. In reality, it has been an Arab-majority force\u2026for several years now,\u201d Holmes added in a statement to North Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan played heavily on fear of \u201cKurdification\u201d and Kurdish autonomy in Syria during the 2018 Turkish invasion and occupation of Syria\u2019s Kurdish-majority Afrin. The Human Rights Organization \u2013 Afrin stated in a report that Kurds previously made up 97% of the population of Afrin, and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy described Afrin as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtoninstitute.org\/policy-analysis\/rojavas-sustainability-and-pkks-regional-strategy\">\u201chomogenously Kurdish.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his 2018 speech in Bursa, Erdogan claimed that 55% of Afrin\u2019s population was Arab, adding that Turkey aimed to \u201cgive Afrin back to its rightful owners.\u201d Turkish media <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/en\/middle-east\/ypg-pkk-terrorists-block-minorities-right-to-education\/1895635\">frequently accuses the SDF and YPG of \u201cKurdifying\u201d Syrian areas<\/a> and oppressing Arab, Turkmen, Christian, or other ethnic and religious groups in Syria. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysabah.com\/politics\/scars-of-conflict-heal-in-syrias-tal-abyad-on-anniversary-of-operation-peace-spring\/news\">A pro-Turkish state media puff piece on the Turkish occupation<\/a> of Tel Abyad asserted that the Autonomous Administration taught classes to schoolchildren in Kurdish only, depriving Arab children of their education, despite the Autonomous Administration\u2019s creation and implementation of a curriculum that teaches both Kurdish and Arabic to all children regardless of ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By labelling the SDF as a Kurdish force, the Turkish authority is able to reject the assertions of Syrians of all ethnicities that the SDF is a representation of the Syrian mosaic and brand tens of thousands of non-Kurdish Syrians who have joined the SDF as Kurdish terrorists. In this scenario, Turkey can show itself as a savior for Arabs oppressed by a radical minority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This propagandizing is not limited to the Turkish state; the Syrian regime also regularly posits the SDF and Autonomous Administration as a separatist entity while denying the long and detailed Kurdish history of Syria in order to stoke fears among Arab populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a 2018 interview with Rossiya-24 network, Syrian President Bashar Assad stated that Kurds living in northern Syria were originally from Turkey, adding, \u201cwe are always positive towards the subject of Kurds. The so-called \u2018Kurdish issue\u2019 is not true but illusive and a lie.\u201d Kurds were often marginalized in Syrian history, with a 1962 census depriving over 20% of the Kurdish population \u2013 many of whom had lived on Syrian soil from long before Syria was even a country \u2013 of their citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amid recent tensions between the regime and SDF-affiliated Internal Security Forces (Asayish) in the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli, regime governor of Hasakah Ghassan Khalil said <a href=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/53825\/\">in a meeting with pro-regime Arab tribal leaders<\/a> that the SDF is a \u201cKurdish force,\u201d and asked, \u201cHow can Arabs be ruled by Kurds?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This othering of Kurds and their portrayal as a foreign and distinctly non-Syrian entity, in recent years, as begun to spread into even writings and analyses by think tanks and observers of the Syrian conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would encourage other analysts and observers to make sure they\u2019re not inadvertently repeating that propaganda from Assad and Erdogan,\u201d Holmes advises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This inadvertent spread of propaganda amounts to tacit approval of Syrian regime and opposition forces\u2019 tendency to \u201cother\u201d and exclude the SDF and the civilians that it protects in Syria, further depriving potentially millions of Syrians in SDF-held areas of having a voice and representation in the future of their country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>*These numbers are based on one survey of 391 individuals; internal statistics from the SDF are unavailable. Graphic is recreated with permission from the author. The 2019 survey of the SDF can be accessed <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/publication\/sdfs-arab-majority-rank-turkey-the-biggest-threat-to-ne-syria-survey-data-americas\"><em>here.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Prepared by Lucas Chapman<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For years, everyone from Syrian regime figures, to Turkish officials, to even #ISIS has described the Syrian Democratic Forces as a \u201cKurdish force.\u201d But is this the reality on the ground? @LucasNChapman writes for North Press on the narrative of the \u201cKurdish\u201d #SDF. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":54270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-investigations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is the SDF a \u201cKurdish force?\u201d - North press agency<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For years, everyone from Syrian regime figures, to Turkish officials, to even #ISIS has described the Syrian Democratic Forces as a \u201cKurdish force.\u201d But is this the reality on the ground? 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