Syria seeks Kurds, minorities for security forces, sparking reactions

Young Kurdish men line up to sign up to join Syrian government’s General Security forces at a police station in Turkey-occupied Kurdish city of Afrin, Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), an area in the country’s north from which Kurds were forcibly displaced years ago, August 21, 2025. Photo: AP

AFRIN, Syrian Kurdistan,— Dozens of Kurdish men, including members of religious minorities, are signing up to join Syria’s General Security forces in Afrin, a Kurdish area in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) that has remained under Turkish military occupation and the control of Ankara-backed Syrian Islamist militias since 2018, according to local officials and witnesses.

The enlistment push comes as Damascus faces growing criticism over recent sectarian violence and years of instability, while Turkey’s hold over Kurdish Afrin and surrounding areas continues to generate accusations of forced displacement, looting and demographic engineering.

UN urges diversity amid tensions

A U.N.-supported commission investigating violence in Syria recommended earlier this month that the new authorities recruit members from minority groups to make security structures more representative and restore trust among communities fractured by years of war.

The call followed reports of sectarian attacks in other parts of Syria. In recent months, fighters linked to government-aligned groups have been accused of targeting civilians from Alawite and Druze sects, prompting renewed international attention.

Meanwhile, minorities remain wary of the new Islamist rulers in Damascus. The government is dominated by former Sunni Islamist insurgents who toppled President Bashar Assad last December, ending a nearly 14-year civil war but leaving the country deeply divided.

A deal struck in March between Damascus and Kurdish-led forces that dominate much of northeast Syria has also come under strain, with both sides trading accusations over implementation.

Queues at Afrin recruitment offices

Turkish-backed Syrian fighters in the Syrian Kurdish city of Afrin — Turkish-backed Syrian mercenary Islamist militias in the Syrian Kurdish city of Afrin, Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), March 2018. Photo: AFP

At a recruitment site in Afrin on Wednesday, young men lined up to enlist. Among them was Abbas Mohammad Hamouda, a Kurdish Alawite.

“I came with men from my area to join this new state,” Hamouda told AP. “We will stand together, united, and prevent wars in the future.”

Hamouda acknowledged that Kurds in Afrin “have suffered enormously during the past eight years” and voiced hope that other Kurds would not see those enlisting as collaborators.

Afrin, once a Kurdish-majority city, fell under Turkish occupation in early 2018 when Ankara launched a major cross-border offensive with the help of proxy fighters drawn from hardline Islamist factions.

Syria seeks Kurds, minorities for security forces in Afrin — Turkish-backed Syrian fighters pull down the Kurdish statue of “Kawa blacksmith” in the center of Afrin, Syrian Kurdistan, (Rojava) on March 18, 2018. Photo: Reuters

The operation forced thousands of Kurdish residents from their homes in what rights organizations and Kurdish groups describe as a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Turkey’s earlier intervention in 2016 had targeted areas east of Afrin, seeking to prevent the Kurdish YPG militia from linking territories across Syrian Kurdistan into a contiguous zone.

By March 2018, Afrin was fully under Turkish control. Turkish flags and banners of pro-Ankara militias were hoisted across the city, while the statue of Kawa, a Kurdish cultural symbol and hero of resistance, was torn down in a move widely condemned by Kurds worldwide.

A subsequent Turkish incursion in 2019 against Kurdish-led forces in other parts of Syrian Kurdistan sparked global criticism. The assault prompted several countries, including Sweden and Finland, to impose arms restrictions on Ankara.

Accusations of abuses under occupation

Human rights organizations have repeatedly accused Turkey and its allied Islamist mercenary groups of grave violations in Afrin.

Reports cite arbitrary killings, home seizures, kidnappings for ransom and large-scale looting of property belonging to displaced Kurds. Activists say these abuses form part of an effort to alter Afrin’s demographic makeup by resettling Arabs and families loyal to Turkey from other parts of Syria.

Today, many Kurds who remained in Afrin report systematic discrimination. Others live in displacement camps, unable to return due to fear of reprisals by Turkish-backed factions.

Against this backdrop, some see the Syrian government’s recruitment campaign as a chance for Afrin’s original residents to regain influence. Malik Moussa, a Yazidi Kurd who enlisted, said he joined hoping “to be part of the national army and see an end to discrimination.”

“We want a government that belongs to all people and ends the injustice of the past,” Moussa said.

Authorities promise inclusion

Ferhad Khurto, a senior official in Afrin responsible for political affairs, said roughly 1,000 men had signed up over the past several days to join General Security.

“They come from all sects, faiths and communities,” Khurto told AP. “This is the first step of a national plan to integrate Afrin’s sons into state institutions, not only in security but across the government.”

Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba told The Associated Press that “competence and loyalty to the homeland are the only criteria,” rejecting any suggestion of quotas based on sectarian identity.

Critics question Damascus motives

The recruitment drive has drawn skepticism from Kurdish organizations representing displaced residents.

The Afrin Social Association, based in Kurdish region in northeast Syria, called the move “irresponsible” in a statement posted on Facebook.

It said enrolling Kurds in state security forces “without guarantees for Afrin’s population or a clear plan for voluntary, dignified return of the displaced” undermines commitments made in the March agreement.

The group accused Damascus of attempting to “circumvent” that deal, which envisioned the return of families uprooted by the Turkish occupation and a merger between the new government’s army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Some locals share these doubts. A Kurdish man still living in Afrin, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said the initiative could be a positive development “if the authorities are genuinely committed to restoring a role for Afrin’s original population.” But he warned recruits could be used in future fighting between the state and the SDF.

Several families are encouraging their sons to enlist, either to secure employment or to gain leverage in local politics.

“I know a young barber whose grandfather forced him to join,” the resident said. “He told him, ‘We need to have influence in the state.’”

The Autonomous Administration in Syrian Kurdistan, created in 2018, runs the region under a system rooted in democratic confederalism. This model promotes local self-governance, gender equality, secular principles, and environmental responsibility, and is often noted for expanding women’s roles in politics and community leadership.

(With files from AP | Agencies)