The waters in Syria have not calmed down yet, and it does not look like they will. The radical HTS government, which came to power after Assad's ouster, has fallen on the country's minority communities like a nightmare. The HTS regime, which first massacred Alawites in the west of the country on March 6, 2025, then attacked Druze in the south, recently targeted the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Ashrafiye and Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo. Negotiations resulted in the departure of the SDF-affiliated Kurdish militias in these neighborhoods, which call themselves ’Asayish“. However, Kurdish civilians have been the biggest victims in this process.
When it comes to the Kurds, it seems that an unnamed alliance has once again come into play in the country. Without generalizing, many people, from Islamists to nationalists, from nationalists to Ataturkists and even leftists, seem to be happy with the HTS operation against Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo. When asked, they say that they have no problem with the Kurds, it is the PKK and its affiliated YPG-SDF that they are against. But is it really only the PKK? Didn't the same circles also oppose Barzani's strengthening in Iraqi politics in opposition to the PKK? Don't they take the same stance when the Kurds in Iran mobilize for independence or other demands?
Their main argument is against imperialism and Israel. According to them, imperialism and Israel are trying to dismember the region through the Kurds.
Let's start with some Islamists. Aren't countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with whom they are acting together in Syria today, the most important partners of the United States and Israel? Wasn't it not reported in the press that the Colani administration, which they praise so highly, signed a security agreement with Israel? Weren't they the ones who rejoiced when Israel bombed Assad?
As for the nationalists, when the US was establishing bases in various parts of this country for years, weren't they the ones who stood up with guns and sticks against the revolutionaries who opposed this?
Let's talk about some Ataturkists, again without generalizing. Don't you realize that allowing an al-Qaeda mentality to become the sole dominant force in Syria, just to prevent the Kurds from making any gains, could in the future threaten the secular system in Turkey, which is already in a difficult situation?
Just 15 years ago, Israel was one of Turkey's most important defense industry partners. Who can guarantee that these relations will not improve again tomorrow? One cannot talk about anti-imperialism while waiting at the door of the US for the F-35.
In order to survive in one of the most difficult regions of the world, the Kurds may have developed some relations with the US, perhaps with Israel. You can criticize these relations, you can find them wrong, but you cannot say “I have no problem with the Kurds, I am against imperialism, therefore I am against the Kurds gaining rights in northern Syria”. Because everyone knows that what you are against is not imperialism, but the Kurds themselves.
The reality is that some people try to disguise their Kurdish phobia with the sauce of “anti-imperialism”. What comes out is an extremely tasteless dish that has become a bitter taste.