Fighting in northern Syria: Germany's policy needs change: Sido

Fighting in northern Syria: German Syria policy needs a change of course – ‘Germany must put Erdogan and other Islamists in their place’

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls on the German government to change its Syria policy and warns of the effects of an Islamist takeover for women and minorities.

‘Since the beginning of the Syrian revolt in 2011, the German government – under Merkel and under Scholz – has supported Sunni Islamist groups instead of democratic, secular forces, following Erdogan’s recommendations, due to geopolitical interests in Syria,’ reported the STP’s Middle East consultant, Dr Kamal Sido, in Göttingen today.

‘As a result of these deeply misguided policies, radical Islamists such as IS, Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood were able to infiltrate the Syrian uprising against the Assad dictatorship. The fact that these forces are now on the rise in Aleppo and throughout northwestern Syria is also due to the irresponsible policies of German politicians such as former Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Foreign Ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Sigmar Gabriel.

The federal government, consisting of the SPD, FDP, and the Greens, continued the Syria policy that was aligned with Erdogan and Sunni Islamists,’ criticized Sido. ‘With the advance of radical Islamists on the northern Syrian multi-ethnic and multi-religious metropolis of Aleppo and other cities, the ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic diversity in northwestern Syria is in danger of disappearing for good. Islamic Sharia law will prevail there for the time being.’

The human rights activist explains that the current attacks by Turkey and its Islamist mercenaries on the last Kurdish-inhabited villages in northern Aleppo have effectively marked the beginning of the end of the Kurdish presence. The same applies to Armenians, Assyrians/Aramaeans and other Christian communities.

More than 300,000 Kurds who were displaced from Afrin after Turkey’s occupation of the area in 2018 found shelter in northern Aleppo. ‘All these people spent last night outdoors in the cold and have nowhere to flee to. Among them are many Kurdish Yazidis, Alevis and Christians.

There is a great risk of atrocities and massacres,’ warns the human rights activist. In the Syrian Islamist media, especially in the social media of the Syrian Islamist opposition, which are also financed by the Foreign Office in Berlin, the most vicious attacks are being made against Kurds. ‘The civilian population and especially the minorities in Syria are being sacrificed by Turkey and NATO on the one hand and by Russia and Iran on the other for geopolitical interests.’

‘Anyone who really wants to prevent Islamist attacks at Christmas markets in Germany and Europe must not allow Syria to become a second Afghanistan. Erdogan and the Islamists will not bring democracy to Syria. The human rights and minority rights situation will be even worse. It will be disastrous for women in particular.

Anyone who wants democracy in Syria must put Erdogan and other Islamists in their place. After more than 50 years of Assad dictatorship, Syria needs democracy and equality for all citizens, not a new Islamic republic established by Erdogan.

Those who want a secular system in Syria should not support Erdogan and other Islamists in Syria, but rather the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF are multi-ethnic, multi-religious, secular, and stand for freedom of belief and women’s rights,’ demands the human rights activist.

Dr. Kamal Sido, a prominent Syrian Kurdish intellectual. He is a Middle East Consultant for ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities at the German Society for Threatened Peoples (STP).

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.