Syrian Democratic Forces
Peace Without Trust
A deal between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces that will end Kurdish self-rule in northeastern Syria is moving forward. But mistrust runs deep, and many SDF fighters reject integration, while civilians, worn down by war, hope for stability but fear what unification could bring.
How the Kurds Lost Eastern Syria
To the West, Kurdish self-rule in Syria is a beacon of democracy. For the locals, it has meant a police state administered by the Syrian Democratic Forces, where a child is silenced for singing a folk song and a doctor is jailed for helping a disabled refugee.
In Raqqa, Damascus Returns as the Rojava Project Recedes
A Jan. 18 agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces may signal the end of Kurdish-led administration in Syria’s northeast. While thousands of residents celebrated what they called Raqqa’s “liberation,” Kurdish neighborhoods emptied, and symbols of Kurdish self-rule were removed.
The Fragile Foundations of Arab-Kurdish Coexistence
A journey from Damascus into eastern Syria — along a busy smuggling route — shows that the desire for a united country remains strong, despite the efforts of factions and external actors to sow discord and fuel sectarian fears.
The Changeling of Deir ez-Zor
He was not a jihadist, although he’d been called one when convenient. When he joined “the Kurds,” he automatically became a “fighter for women’s empowerment and the rights of the dispossessed Kurds.” He was neither. And neither are so many other Syrian Arabs from the eastern part of the country.