The Kurds learned long ago not to count on help from without. Split between several countries surrounding the Zagros Mountains, the Kurds are the largest community in the world yet to be granted a nation of their own with the right of self-determination and autonomy.
This ancient people have been divided by the Ottomans, been at constant odds with the Armenians, been seen as troublesome minorities in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, and have been used to do the dirty work of greater powers until they can be tossed to the side. It is therefore not without reason that an old Kurdish proverb states that there are ‘no friends but the mountains.’
While Kurdistan may not show up on any classroom map, the determined Kurds have, in past decades, carved themselves out a semi-autonomous nation amid the chaos that has ravaged both Iraq and Syria. In Syria and Iraq, the Kurds in the north took on the Islamic State with full force and served a key role in the US-led coalition against IS. Since then, the Kurds have detained and held the multinational Islamic fighters the West prefers not to deal with in ‘refugee’ camps and have managed to maintain their control of the north.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Ahmed al-Sharaa, however, the Kurds are increasingly losing their grip on north-eastern Syria and their militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has collapsed. The Kurds have lost control of 80 per cent of their Syrian territory and half of their fighting forces due to defections. So far, Syrian president al-Sharaa seems ready to tolerate Kurdish identity but not an inch of Kurdish autonomy.
Many Kurds are understandably weary of handing over their security responsibilities to a new Arab leader with unclear motives. They state that their autonomy is non-negotiable. For his part, Ahmed al-Sharaa is determined to unite a divided country under one government for the first time in more than a decade. The American administration appears to be done with the Kurds and are ready to throw their hat in with the new Syrian leader.
The future of the thousands of Islamic State captives will be a hot topic in coming months. Many prisoners have escaped amid the recent fighting, and even more are being moved by American forces to detention camps in Iraq. The camps contain masses of European nationals and a large population of children who have grown up and developed among the extremists. This tricky situation is a can that must cease to be kicked down the road and offloaded on foreign militias. There is no doubt a large number of extremists and war criminals detained in the camps, but it is both immoral and counterproductive to imprison those too young to bear any responsibility for family actions a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the Kurds must dream on and will inevitably continue their pursuit for Kurdish-backed security. Their trust in minority protections in the countries who claim their mountains has eroded completely. History has proven to the Kurds that they can only count on themselves to find a pocket of peace in a hostile world.
Photo by aranprime on Unsplash
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No Friends but the Mountains — What Will be the Fate of Syria’s Kurds?
The Kurds learned long ago not to count on help from without. Split between several countries surrounding the Zagros Mountains, the Kurds are the largest community in the world yet to be granted a nation of their own with the right of self-determination and autonomy.
This ancient people have been divided by the Ottomans, been at constant odds with the Armenians, been seen as troublesome minorities in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, and have been used to do the dirty work of greater powers until they can be tossed to the side. It is therefore not without reason that an old Kurdish proverb states that there are ‘no friends but the mountains.’
While Kurdistan may not show up on any classroom map, the determined Kurds have, in past decades, carved themselves out a semi-autonomous nation amid the chaos that has ravaged both Iraq and Syria. In Syria and Iraq, the Kurds in the north took on the Islamic State with full force and served a key role in the US-led coalition against IS. Since then, the Kurds have detained and held the multinational Islamic fighters the West prefers not to deal with in ‘refugee’ camps and have managed to maintain their control of the north.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Ahmed al-Sharaa, however, the Kurds are increasingly losing their grip on north-eastern Syria and their militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has collapsed. The Kurds have lost control of 80 per cent of their Syrian territory and half of their fighting forces due to defections. So far, Syrian president al-Sharaa seems ready to tolerate Kurdish identity but not an inch of Kurdish autonomy.
Many Kurds are understandably weary of handing over their security responsibilities to a new Arab leader with unclear motives. They state that their autonomy is non-negotiable. For his part, Ahmed al-Sharaa is determined to unite a divided country under one government for the first time in more than a decade. The American administration appears to be done with the Kurds and are ready to throw their hat in with the new Syrian leader.
The future of the thousands of Islamic State captives will be a hot topic in coming months. Many prisoners have escaped amid the recent fighting, and even more are being moved by American forces to detention camps in Iraq. The camps contain masses of European nationals and a large population of children who have grown up and developed among the extremists. This tricky situation is a can that must cease to be kicked down the road and offloaded on foreign militias. There is no doubt a large number of extremists and war criminals detained in the camps, but it is both immoral and counterproductive to imprison those too young to bear any responsibility for family actions a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the Kurds must dream on and will inevitably continue their pursuit for Kurdish-backed security. Their trust in minority protections in the countries who claim their mountains has eroded completely. History has proven to the Kurds that they can only count on themselves to find a pocket of peace in a hostile world.
Photo by aranprime on Unsplash
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