As attacks by HTS and Turkey-backed paramilitary forces against Kurds in Syria continue to expand, reactions and condemnations have persisted. Seyit Aslan shared his assessment of the ongoing attacks and massacres targeting Kurdish communities.

 

Recalling that, under the March 10 Agreement, security in Aleppo’s Şexmeqsut and Eşrefiye neighborhoods should be under the responsibility of internal security units affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Aslan said groups linked to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have violated the agreement and are carrying out systematic violence against civilians. Drawing attention to the timing of the attacks, Aslan noted: “The fact that this process began immediately after a meeting held in France on January 5 between Israel, the United States, and the current Syrian administration indicates a step toward a policy of isolating the Kurds.”

 

‘THEY WANT TO CONFINE KURDS EAST OF THE EUPHRATES’

 

Aslan said international and regional powers aim to remove Kurds from the region and confine them entirely to the east of the Euphrates. “This operation is intended to strip Kurdish forces of the positions they have gained, to erode as much as possible the rights secured during the integration process, and to force them into subordination to the Damascus administration,” he said. 

 

“However, they fail to take one thing into account,” Aslan added. “The Kurdish people in Syria possess organized power. In the face of these attacks, they are a people capable at least of self-defense and of protecting themselves. Politically, and from Turkey’s perspective, it is crucial that these attacks stop as soon as possible. There may be a temporary ceasefire at present, but it is impossible to predict how long it will last or when it will end. It must also be stated that HTS derives significant strength from Turkey and from certain collaborating groups in the region.”

 

‘HTS DOES NOT REPRESENT THE PEOPLES OF SYRIA’

 

Aslan said HTS and other jihadist groups backed by imperialist powers can never be the genuine representatives of the Syrian people. “Mercenary jihadists recruited from all over the world and brought here do not represent the local population,” he said. “It is impossible for this structure to truly represent the Syrian people in all their diversity—Turks, Kurds, Alawites, and Druze alike. Those who have not lived there, who come to power through external intervention or seize control from the outside, have no real connection to the Syrian people.”

 

He added that HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani and the organization itself lack legitimacy in the eyes of the world’s peoples and oppressed communities, but are nevertheless propped up by imperialist powers and their regional allies. “No approach that fails to secure the consent of all segments of society, guarantee freedoms and coexistence, or recognize identities can govern Syria,” Aslan said.

 

‘WE WILL CONTINUE TO STAND WITH THE KURDISH PEOPLE’

 

Aslan emphasized that Syria should be governed democratically rather than through an imposed, monolithic system, allowing peoples to decide for themselves how they wish to live. “We will continue to stand with the Kurdish people there, support their struggle, and sustain the organization of a joint struggle,” he said.

 

‘THE ATTACKS ARE CREATING A DEEP RUPTURE AMONG KURDS’

 

Warning that the attacks in northeast Syria could cause a deep rupture across the Kurdish people as a whole, Aslan said: “Kurds living in Syria are one with those in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. Even if borders have been drawn, there is a unity of emotion, culture, and language in this geography. Therefore, events there will inevitably create a rupture in the emotional world of the people, even if they do not directly disrupt processes here.”

 

He warned that a new phase of war in the region would mean far harsher conditions for both Turkey and the Kurdish people. “We must not allow this. A clear stance must be taken against any initiative that could pave the way for a new environment of conflict, and the Kurdish people’s demands for freedom and democracy must be accepted unconditionally,” Aslan said, adding that Turkey should abandon its aggressive posture and threatening rhetoric toward the autonomous administration in Syria and instead apply pressure on the Damascus government and reactionary, gang-like structures in the region.

 

‘THE ATTACKS ARE LINKED TO THE U.S., ISRAEL, TURKEY, AND EUROPE’

 

Aslan said the Syrian Interim Government acts in tandem with imperialist powers. “The Damascus administration cannot take steps on its own,” he said. “Both the current administration and HTS are deeply entangled with imperialist powers. Syria’s current state is directly linked to Europe, the United States, and Israel.”

 

According to Aslan, these attacks are intended to deepen HTS’s dependence on external forces. “The only organized force capable of bringing democratization to Syria’s future is the Kurdish people,” he said, adding that while Druze and Alawite communities may take part in this struggle, Kurds occupy a politically decisive position. “A democratic Syria does not serve the interests of imperialist powers. Their silence in the face of attacks on Kurds stems from their desire to maintain the region in a balance that serves their own interests.”

 

Aslan also claimed that the current administration has raised no objections to Israel’s occupation of certain territories and has entered into security agreements with Israel, while Turkey is being used in this process as a means of rapprochement with Israel.

 

‘WE MUST RESPOND THROUGH JOINT PROTESTS’

 

Stating that imperialist powers have historically supported reactionary, theocratic, and anti-popular regimes in the Middle East, Aslan said the al-Sharaa government seeks to rule Syria with a mindset that would push the country and its peoples back two centuries. “Because this outdated mentality has been rejected by the people, massacres have occurred—and they continue today,” he said.

 

“For this reason, the gains achieved in regions inhabited by Kurds, Druze, and Alawites must never be lost,” Aslan added. “Protecting these gains is not only the responsibility of the peoples in the region but also of the left and socialist movement in Turkey. Pressure must be applied to the Turkish government, and to the Syrian government as well. It is not enough to express this verbally; we must also respond through joint protests.”