US civil society coalition urges Biden to stop SNA attacks on Rojava

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A coalition of US civil society organizations on Wednesday called on US President Joe Biden’s administration to stop the Syrian National Army’s (SNA) aggression against Syrian Kurds and to sanction Turkey if attacks continue.

“We … write to express our deep concern over the military buildup of Turkish-led forces around the Kurdish-held city of Kobani, located in the autonomous zone of northeast Syria. In the absence of strong deterrents, Turkey will intensify its aerial and artillery bombardment of civilian areas in Kobani and undertake aggressive military incursions deeper into Syrian territory,” read the letter.

Turkey and the Syrian militia groups it supports - the SNA - have recently intensified their attacks on areas held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near Manbij and the symbolic Kurdish city of Kobane, including Tishreen Dam and Qere Qozaq bridge.

The SNA seized control of Manbij and Til Rifaat from the SDF as a coalition of Islamist rebels led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was toppling the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which ended with the fall of Damascus on December 8.

“We call on the Biden administration to take steps to halt the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army's (SNA) offensive into the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) and negotiate a durable ceasefire that safeguards the region's religious and multi-ethnic minorities. The United States should sanction Turkey if it persists with its encroachment into northeast Syria and hold Ankara accountable for its proxies' war crimes and human rights abuses,” the letter added.

The coalition includes the American Mideast Coalition for Democracy, American Friends of Kurdistan, the American Syriac Union, the Armenian National Committee of America, the Hellenic American Leadership Council, In Defense of Christians, the Israeli American Civic Action Network, and the Middle East Forum.

They stated that they are “united by our common values of democracy and respect for human rights and driven by our opposition to Turkey's unprovoked military intervention in Syria,” and blamed Ankara for taking advantage of the instability in Syria after Assad’s collapse to seize SDF-held lands.

The coalition also condemned Turkey for rejecting a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between the SDF and SNA.

“Backed by Turkey, SNA stands accused of numerous human rights abuses going back to the 2019 occupation of Afrin, including indiscriminate shelling, summary killings, sexual violence, and child recruitment,” the letter explained, adding that Turkey’s actions in Syria contradict NATO’s values in terms of human rights and rule of law.

Turkey has carried out three major military campaigns against the SDF since 2016 on the grounds that the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, is the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and poses a threat to Ankara’s national security.

Turkey’s last offensive against the SDF was in 2019 when it took control of Sare Kani (Ras al-Ain) and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad). The campaign was halted after the Americans and Russians mediated a ceasefire.

Turkish foreign minister warned on Tuesday that Ankara plans to carry out a fresh military operation against northeast Syria (Rojava) if the alleged cadres of the PKK do not leave the country, adding that they have given a deadline to the Kurdish authorities through Western countries.