QAMISHLI, Syria, Jan 27 (Reuters) – As Syria’s Islamist-led government launches an offensive against Kurdish forces, residents of their last major enclave are on alert, mindful of last year’s violence against other minority groups and determined to preserve their autonomy.
In the northeastern Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, a mechanic, a shopkeeper and a student took part in this week’s nightly volunteer patrols, vowing to defend their area and showing no confidence in the uneasy ceasefire.
Yazan Ghanem, 23, said: “We are going out to defend our communities, stand with our people and protect our land. This is our land. We will not accept any interference from outside forces in our area.”
Residents say ‘fear and suspicion’ plague Kurds
That reflects rising tensions despite a 15-day extension of the U.S.-backed ceasefire on Saturday. There were some conflicts after that.
After seizing swaths of the north and east from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), President Ahmed Sala’s government is pressing for the remaining Kurdish-controlled enclaves to be integrated into the state.
The SDF are still holding out in their northeastern enclave, one of several where the Kurds, an oppressed group under the ousted Assad dynasty, have established de facto autonomy during the civil war.
Despite Sala’s repeated vows to uphold Kurdish rights – he recognized Kurdish as the national language earlier this month – residents patrolling Qamishli on Monday had little confidence in the former al-Qaeda commander.
“We are fearful and suspicious of the government because, quite simply, wherever it enters, massacres and killings occur,” Radwan Aissa said, brandishing a gun.
Fears among Syria’s ethnic minorities have intensified after several rounds of violence last year between the Sunni Muslim-led government and members of the Alawite community in Syria’s coastal region and the Druze community in Suwayda province, with hundreds killed by government-aligned militants.
Sarah pledged to pursue accountability.
A senior Syrian government official said Kurdish concerns were “understandable” because of abuses committed by army personnel in Suwayda and a number of violations committed by the army as it entered Kurdish-controlled areas in recent weeks.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the latest abuses and one is at large but is being sought, the official said. “We were eager to learn from past experiences and we did that,” he added.
Last year, the prosecutor general brought charges against about 300 people linked to armed factions affiliated with the Syrian army and about 265 people belonging to Assad-era paramilitary groups in connection with the violence along the coast.
Human Rights Watch said on January 25 that during the current escalation of tensions in the Northeast, both sides appear to have committed violations of international law.
The Self-Defense Forces are ready for “war and political solutions”
Government forces have advanced into the SDF-controlled suburbs of Hasakah, an ethnically mixed city about 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Qamishli. They also surrounded the Kurdish-controlled town of Kobani, or Ain al-Arab, on the Turkish border.
The SDF vowed to protect the Kurdish region.
In an interview with Kurdish broadcaster Ronahi on Sunday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said talks with Damascus were continuing and “serious steps” would be taken towards integration in 15 days.
“Our forces are ready for war and a political solution,” he said. “The Kurds must gain their rights in the region and join the Syrian state,” he said.
Syrian officials said the January 18 integration deal was intended to reassure the Kurds, stipulating that Syrian forces would not enter Kurdish areas and detailing how local communities would appoint their own representatives.
The SDF’s territory continues to expand as it cooperates with the United States to fight Islamic State in Syria.
But as Washington deepened its relationship with Salad last year, its position eroded. President Donald Trump said on January 20 that Washington was working to protect the Kurds.
Syria’s dominant Kurdish group, the PYD, follows a political doctrine that emphasizes leftism and feminism.
Giwana Hussein, a 23-year-old Qamishli student, said she hoped the ceasefire showed both sides wanted a political solution. She urged Damascus to let the Kurds manage their own affairs and said she feared women’s rights would be marginalized if the government took power.
The Syrian official said the government wanted to ensure the new constitution addressed Kurdish concerns, but said that would only happen if an integration deal was agreed and implemented. “Once we merge, we can discuss everything,” the official said.
Ivan Hasib, a Kurdish activist critical of the Democratic Unionist Party, said Shara’s decree recognizing Kurdish rights was positive but only a first step, saying those rights must be enshrined in the constitution and not just cultural rights: “The lasting solution… is for the Kurds and other groups to gain some form of autonomy.”
(Additional reporting by Maya Gebeli in Beirut; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by William McLean)