The Assad regime has declared that it will take action against US and Turkish forces in the north and east of Syria.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem used an appearance at the UN General Assembly on Saturday to proclaim, “Any foreign forces operating in our territories without our authorization are occupying forces and must withdraw immediately. If they refuse, we have the right to take any and all countermeasures authorized under international law.”
The Foreign Minister said of a “safe zone” declared by Turkey and the US in northeast Syria, across the Kurdish cantons of Kobani and Cezire, “The United States and Turkey maintain an illegal military presence in northern Syria.”
Moallem did not specify the military and/or diplomatic steps which the regime will take. Instead, he issued the general warning against all anti-Assad groups, ““We are determined to continue our war against terrorism in all its forms until rooting out the last remaining terrorist.”
A Multi-Sided Conflict in the North
The US has officially carried out air and ground operations inside Syria since August 2014, when it proclaimed a campaign against the Islamic State. In autumn 2015, Washington forged the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to remove ISIS from the northeast, a task accomplished in March 2019.
Despite a Donald Trump order for full withdrawal in December, about 1,000 troops remain alongside the SDF and at a base in eastern Syria on the Iraq border. In addition to the official line of preventing the resurgence of the Islamic State, US officials have also said the force is a counter to an expansion of Iranian influence in Syria and the region.
Turkey’s official military intervention dates from August 2016, when it sent troops into northern Syria alongside Syrian rebels. The force pushed out ISIS and then captured almost all of the Kurdish canton of Afrin in the northwest in spring 2018.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared Ankara’s intention that a “safe zone”, 480 km (270 miles) long and 30 km in depth in northeast Syria, take one million of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Turkey and the US set up a Joint Operations Room to patrol the zone this month, but Ankara is chiding the Americans for dragging their feet on operations.
Ankara considers the Kurdish militia YPG, the largest faction in the Syrian Democratic Forces, to be part of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK.
The Assad regime has begun threats against the “terrorist” SDF as part of its slogan that it will “regain every inch” of Syria. However, Russia — essential to any pro-Assad advance across the country since Moscow’s military intervention in September 2015 — has not announced support for any offensive.
[United Nations Special Envoy for Syria] Geir Pedersen confirms SDF that gave 11,000 lives in the fight against ISIS is excluded from the Syria new constitutional committee. “Since they are not part of that opposition. No. They are not in the committee.”
https://twitter.com/vvanwilgenburg/status/1177967000565506050 9/28/2019
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[Syrian Democratic Council] continues its efforts to unite democratic opposition ranks
To hold a national conference of the Syrian democratic opposition, [SDC] continues organizing its dialogue workshops abroad where it organized a dialogue workshop in Bochum city of Germany. [Earlier on September 7, the SDC organized the first dialogue workshop in Berlin, Germany, for two consecutive days which was attended by 40 Syrian opposition figures
http://npasyria.com/en/blog.php?id_blog=859&sub_blog=10&name_blog=SDC%20launches%20the%20second%20dialogue%20workshop%20in%20Germany ]
https://hawarnews.com/en//haber/msd-continues-its-efforts-to-unite-democratic-opposition-ranks-h11549.html 9/21/2019
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Berlin Conference Calls for a Broad Alliance for Democracy and a New Social Contract in Turkey
“Come, from now on we will talk about the Turkey we want to live in together”.
With this motto to work together for a more equal, fair, free and democratic Turkey, a colorful gathering of Turkish, Armenian, Kurdish and Syriac exiled and opposition politicians, artists, journalists, academics and representatives of different ethnic and/or religous groups convened the conference “The Social Contract Quest for a Democratic Turkey” in Berlin on 21-22 September. […] CHP, HDP and Saadet Party Members of Turkish Parliament supported and attended the conference and formed a bridge between the exiles and the home country.
https://www.european-syriac-union.org/news-reader/berlin-conference-calls-for-a-broad-alliance-for-democracy-and-a-new-social-contract-in-turkey.html 9/23/2019
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SDC Representative: The U.S. Senate agrees with our visions
Sinam Muhammad, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) envoy to Washington DC, said the senators’ stances were in full conformity with the vision of the SDC, as they find it unrealistic to remove the political arm of those who defeated the Islamic State (ISIS) from the constitutional committee. […] Elizabeth Goureyeh, the vice chairperson of the executive body of the Autonomous Administration, told North-Press on the sidelines of the meetings in Washington between SDC officials and members of the U.S. Senate […] that SDC vision of Syria lied in bringing full and equal rights to all components of the region, regardless of their religious or ethnic affiliations.
https://npasyria.com/en/blog.php?id_blog=928&sub_blog=10&name_blog=SDC%20Representative:%20The%20U.S.%20Senate%20agrees%20with%20our%20visions 9/30/2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VnJwPV7dfE