The Kurdish YPG militia, which has exercised de facto control over the Gozarto region in northeastern Syria since 2011, is now surrounded by Syrian army forces as Damascus seeks to reassert control over this part of the country.
Amid this dangerous situation, the 35 Assyrian villages along the Khabur River, including the Assyrian town of Tell Tamer, have effectively found themselves in a hostage-like situation.
“We don’t have the power to kick them [YPG] out of our area and fear becoming collateral damage in the fighting if a deal is not reached,” a local Assyrian told the Assyria Post on Thursday.
While the YPG claims it has withdrawn to Kurdish-majority areas, it continues to entrench itself in Assyrian villages and towns. Assyrians fear the militia intends to provoke fighting with the Syrian army in Assyrian areas in order to portray the army as attacking minorities and Christians.
So far, there have been reports of limited skirmishes between the two sides near Tell Tamer and in some surrounding villages, with no Assyrian casualties or injuries reported. However, the situation could quickly escalate if the Kurds and the government fail to reach an agreement before the Saturday deadline. The remaining Assyrians in Khabur could once again find themselves in grave danger.
The Assyrian villages along the Khabur River, near al-Hasakeh, came under YPG coercion after the Kurdish militia murdered David Jendo, head of the local Assyrian defense force, in April 2015, for refusing to subordinate his force to YPG command.
"ISIS is coming"
Meanwhile, the Kurdish propaganda machine is in overdrive, portraying the government’s attempt to retake control of its territory as an attack on minorities. The Kurdish ANF news agency, quoting a statement by the PKK-aligned European Syriac Union (ESU), claimed: “In light of the war against Rojava, the European Syriac Union warns of a new threat to the Christian population in the Khabur Valley. Ten years after the ISIS attacks, jihadist groups could once again target the region.”
This claim stands in contrast to the position of the Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO), the main body representing Assyrians in Syria. In an interview with the Syrian Ikhbariya news channel on Thursday, Gabriel Moshe, a senior ADO representative, said the organization welcomes the return of Syrian state institutions, including the army, to northeastern Syria.
ADO representative Gabriel Moshe on Syrian TV channel Ikhbariya.
Assyrian groups note that Syrian authorities have not targeted Assyrians or Christians during the conflict, and argue that the YPG, an offshoot of the PKK, is invoking the ISIS threat in an effort to retain control. In the current situation, the Assyrian inhabitants in the Khabur area see the continued presence of YPG militants as the threat to their safety.
The European Syriac Union is a front organization of the Bethnahrin National Council, commonly known as the Dawronoye. The controversial group was formed by Assyrian members of the PKK in the 1980s to co-opt Assyrian public opinion in favor of Kurdish nationalism. The group, with its Syriac Press news outlet, enjoys dwindling support among Assyrians and has seen its membership decline sharply due to its pro-Kurdish stance.
