Rojbîn Bilîn

 

Just as the March 10, 2025 agreement between the Syrian Interim Government in Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was expected to be implemented, and as the final round of talks was concluding at the beginning of the new year, the unexpected occurred. In a single night, the situation was turned upside down, and the political landscape shifted dramatically, posing unforeseen challenges to the agreement's future.

Instead of adhering to the principles, the Syrian Interim Government launched a massive offensive on the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods of Aleppo, employing a huge military force and tens of thousands of fighters from extremist groups across various countries.

What the media has honestly reported reveals that these attacks are no less brutal or dangerous than the Kobani offensive, both in terms of their objectives and methods. Civilians were killed, and people were rounded up in a manner reminiscent of Nazi concentration camps under Hitler. The bodies of female Asayish fighters who defended civilians were mutilated, among many other violations.

Information is abundant, but what warrants attention is analyzing the underlying motives behind these horrific practices and understanding the political objectives concealed within this bloody scene. The true mastermind behind this game is Turkey and its Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, who acts as if he were the head of the Syrian regime. He has established a military structure on the ground comprising various groups that have previously fought against the Kurds, Druze, and Alawites, within what resembles a unified "body." Documents indicate that some of these groups consist of Turkish forces, and their images have appeared on social media platforms, revealing the extent of direct intervention in these events.

These attacks were anticipated by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES). Therefore, the military and political administrations in the region have taken a number of preemptive measures. The withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces from the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo was part of an understanding, intended to prevent the Interim Government from using the military presence there as a pretext. Assigning the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) to the protection task was aimed at defending civilians who had previously witnessed massacres committed against the Druze and Alawites.

The Asayish forces were aware that Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as al-Julani, had only changed his outward appearance and that he still operated with the same ISIS mentality, capable of launching an attack at any moment—which is precisely what happened. Nevertheless, the Asayish forces in Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud decided to resist, to demonstrate that al-Julani was nothing more than another version of the "bearded Ba'athists," and to fulfill their moral and revolutionary duty to protect the people, prevent further massacres, and draw global public attention to the reality of the situation.

Withdrawing from Aleppo without resistance, as al-Julani desired and under pressure from Turkey, would have effectively meant surrendering control over all of northern and eastern Syria. It is noteworthy that the attacks and massacres targeting Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo occurred immediately after the agreement reached in Paris between the United States, Israel, and Syria, with Turkey's indirect participation—a timing that cannot be considered coincidental. Tom Barrack, a close associate of Erdogan, played a particularly nefarious role in this agreement.

Looking at the terms of the March 10, 2025 agreement, it becomes clear how the massacres in Aleppo were justified, and how the free will of the Kurds in the region of North and East Syria was exploited as a pretext for implementing a plan with serious repercussions for Abdullah Öcalan's call for "peace and a democratic society," and for the future of Kurdistan in all four parts. The events are interconnected and intertwined, like flesh and nail, revealing that what is happening is not merely a passing attack, but part of a broader plan aimed at breaking the Kurdish will and undermining the peace process.

However, what truly deserves clarification are the hidden calculations behind these events. Simply following the daily developments without considering what is happening behind the scenes remains incomplete. The biggest surprise, which seemed unexpected to those lacking historical memory, came at the very moment of the attacks on the Kurds in Aleppo when al-Julani sent a message of thanks to the President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Masoud Barzani. This stance raised many questions among those who believe in peace, coexistence, democracy, and equality.

Some sources indicate that the United States provided financial support to the Barzani Charity Foundation to deliver aid to the residents of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud. The confusion within the Kurdistan Democratic Party's media outlets, and the attempts by the press to portray the situation as heroic, culminating in an interview conducted by one of the party's channels (Al-Shams TV) with Al-Julani, are also noteworthy. This reveals the extent of the overlap between media and politics in justifying these events.

Reports from human rights organizations and the program prepared with Al-Julani suggest a future plan to bring him and the Kurds of North and East Syria to the negotiating table, mediated by Masoud Barzani. How can Barzani play the role of mediator in resolving the Kurdish issue in Syria when he has failed to even address the simplest dispute between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad?

According to recent information, this program has been postponed, and perhaps even canceled, at Al-Julani's own request. This is because it was exposing the true nature of the scheme to the public, providing direct evidence of a suspicious plot targeting DAANES.

At this critical stage, the digital world is witnessing a widespread, coordinated campaign targeting the standing of General Mazloum Abdi and Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the Department of Foreign Relations of DAANES. This campaign, waged simultaneously across Kurdish, Arabic, and Turkish media outlets, carries a single message: "These people do not represent you; we are your voice." Its true aim is to undermine the influence of the Kurdish cause in that part of Kurdistan, which has sacrificed 12,000 martyrs, and to attempt to negate its legitimate representation.

These attempts to discredit Mazloum Abdi and Ilham Ahmed came after the failure of efforts to draw the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into attacks in Aleppo. When this objective proved unattainable, the media was used as a weapon. Everyone knows that the liberation of Raqqa, the so-called capital of ISIS, along with Tabqa, Manbij, and numerous other Arab areas, would not have been possible without the SDF. This achievement would have been impossible without them.

For the Kurds, this approach represents an attempt to transfer control of North and East Syria to Barzani, making him the sole authority on the matter. All developments in northern Kurdistan, including Barzani's visit to the village guards in Şırnak, fall within this framework. This game has two contradictory faces. Simple, emotional Kurds believe that the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is striving for national unity, while the other side of the coin reveals a sacrifice of the free Kurdish identity within a dirty scheme.

Placing all the cards of the Kurdish cause in Barzani's long-broken basket means turning the Kurd into a mere tool, readily available to be a soldier for everyone except himself. The aim is to create a Kurdish identity tied to foreign powers, to be used when needed by regional and international forces, remaining hostage to the interests of others, not its own.

Among the Kurds, there are those who adopt the rhetoric of international powers and ask, "Why don't the Kurds make an agreement with Israel or the United States?" It is as if the doors of the Kurds are closed to understanding with regional and international powers. But the truth is that free Kurds are no longer those who submit to the interests of hegemonic or occupying powers at the expense of their existence and freedom. They have come to realize that any agreement that compromises their dignity or bargains away their free will is nothing but a new trap, and that defending an independent Kurdish identity is the only path to true freedom.

Everything happening today reveals that Turkey does not want to remain outside the energy corridors and new trade routes, while other international powers seem ready to make any concession to draw it away from other axes, even if the price is the suppression of the Kurds and the passage of these projects over the bodies of peoples who have been subjected to massacres.

What can put an end to this scheme is the popular will based on the call for "peace and a democratic society," which rests on a radical solution to the problems, the removal of the grounds for conflict, the consolidation of democratic integration, and reliance on constitutional and legal foundations as the only way to build a just and stable future.