This week in Northern Syria
Events
01/03/23: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with the presidents of the SNC and the SIG Salem al-Meslet and Abdulrahman Mustafa ostensibly to discuss Turkey’s recent steps towards reengagement with the Asad regime. According to the SNC’s website, Çavuşoğlu “stressed that [Turkey’s] recent steps aim to…advance the political process in Syria in accordance with UN Resolution 2254.” Three days later in an interview with Turkish state media outlet TRT Haber, SIG President Abdulrahman Mustafa stated that "Turkey is acting in line with the expectations of the Syrian people.”
التقينا مع رئيس الائتلاف الوطني السوري سالم المسلط و رئيس هيئة التفاوض السورية بدر جاموس و رئيس الحكومة المؤقتة عبد الرحمن مصطفى. خلال اللقاء تمت مناقشة آخر التطورات حول #سوريا.و أكدنا دعمنا للمعارضة السورية و الشعب السوري و ذلك وفقا لقرار مجلس الأمن ٢٢٥٤.
Meanwhile large anti-reconciliation demonstrations continued across opposition-controlled Syria, with as many as 22 separate protests being held in cities across the northwest and northeast on Friday January 6th.
If Turkish-Syrian rapprochement continues to develop, the SNC and the SIG’s legitimacy among its supposed constituents will be increasingly pushed to its limits as the organizations’ complete reliance on Turkey currently prevents them from voicing any criticism of Turkish policy.
01/03/23: Members of the al-Baggara tribe attacked checkpoints of the SNA Military Police in the city of Cindires, wounding two policemen. The attack was reportedly in response to a raid of the house owned by a member of the tribe, during which a man was arrested and women were allegedly assaulted. The Military Police later announced it had dismissed the officer responsible who will be tried in court.
01/04/23: The deaths of two young children - a four year old and a newborn - in the AANES administered Sheikh Maqsoud district of Aleppo city were blamed on the siege imposed on the area by the regime’s 4th Division. Both children reportedly died in late December of health complications relating to freezing temperatures, greatly exacerbated by regime prevent heating fuel from entering the district.
01/04/23: A Turkish drone strike killed Zeki Gürbüz (“Ahmet Şoreş”) and Özgür Namoğlu (“Fırat Neval”), both members of the Turkish Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MKLP). Gürbüz (b. 1966) was reportedly a member of the party’s Central Committee and had spent time “the mountains” (with the PKK). The MKLP has fought alongside the YPG/SDF since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War. It appears that the attack might have actually occurred on January 3rd in the village of Tell Tawil Marsho, located just north of al-Hasakah city, while the two were on leave from active duty.
01/05/23: Two separate murders occurred in the Ras al-’Ain/Serê Kaniyê area. ‘Azzam Anwar Jawish, a member of the local Chechen community, was reportedly killed by a relative in the village of al-Safih. The Mukhtar of displaced Iraqis in Ras al-’Ain, Isma’il Isma’il or Abu Muslim al-’Iraqi, was assassinated outside his house in the villge of ‘Ain Hisan by unknown gunmen.
01/05/23: The Islamic State claimed two attacks against SDF in al-Raqqah in the latest issue of its al-Naba magazine. On January 1st, members of the group allegedly target an SDF vehicle traveling between al-Raqqa city and ‘Ain ‘Isa with an IED, wounded several. The following day IS allegedly carried out a similar attack on an SDF vehicle near the town of Hazimah, allegedly killing two fighters. These have not been confirmed by the SDF. Several other IED and small arms attacks against the SDF carried out by IS or other actors were reported in al-Raqqah and Deir ez-Zour later in the week, though these have not been confirmed in SDF or pro-SDF media.
01/06/23: The SDF announced the end of Operation Jazirah Thunderbolt, the anti-Islamic State campaign which began a week prior on December 29th. The operation involved raids in 55 different settlements in the al-Hawl, Tell Hamis, and Tell Brak areas and resulted in the arrest of 154 individuals. According to SyriaTV this included some individuals accused of working with regime security forces as well.
01/07/23: A Turkish drone strike targeting the village of al-Khalidiyah in the ‘Ain ‘Isa countryside reportedly wounded a ten year old boy.
01/08/23: Ahrar al-Sham claimed to have carried out a raid on regime positions in the al-Shahba’, in response to Turkish reconciliation efforts. The raid reportedly took place in the village of Tell Jijan, west of al-Bab, and resulted in the death of eight soldiers. So far the latter claim has yet to be confirmed by regime outlets.
01/09/23: Protestors gathered outside the al-Bab city office of AK Energy, after the electricity provider announced a rise in energy prices and increased rationing. In response to the policy changes the A’zaz Local Council reportedly announced it was undertaking legal action to terminate its contract with AK Energy, while the al-Bab and Jarabulus Local Councils threatened to follow suit if the recent decisions on the part of the company were not reversed. According to AK Energy, the price increases were caused by an increase in power transmission fees charged by the Turkish Ministry of Energy. For more on AK Energy, see the recent newsletter covering late December events in Turkish/SNA territory.
01/09/23: Spain repatriated fifteen women and children from northeastern Syria’s Roj camp for detained Islamic State family members. The two women in the group were reportedly arrested by Spanish authorities upon their return.
01/09/23: Rising tensions between Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the SNA’s Furqat al-Sultan Murad reportedly led both the groups to mobilize their forces, threatening the fragile quo that’s been in place since HTS’s October 2022 invasion of Afrin. This time the point of contention is eastern Aleppo’s al-Hamran crossing with SDF-controlled Manbij, the most lucrative internal crossing controlled by the SNA due to its role within the oil trade. Al-Hamran was captured by Ahrar al-Sham Eastern Sector from the SNA’s Third Legion during the October clashes. Since then the SNA has been pushing for it to be turned over to the SIG Ministry of Defense in order for its revenue to be equally divided amongst the SNA legions. Fahim ‘Isa, the commander of Furqat al-Sultan Murad and of the Second Legion which Ahrar al-Sham is ostensibly a part of, has been particularly active in these efforts. According to Al-Modon, Ahrar al-Sham has refused to handover the crossing unless one-seventh of the profits are secured for HTS. Meanwhile HTS has reportedly been reinforcing its SNA ally Furqat al-Sultan Suleiman Shah in Afrin’s Sheikh al-Hadid subdistrict with armor and artillery.
Other
Enab Baladi published a short video report on Afrin’s Dederiyeh Cave (located here), where joint Japanese-Syrian excavations in the 1990s discovered over a dozen Neanderthal skeletons, included the almost complete remains of a two year old child.
The Ras al-’Ain Local Council published a photograph showing members of its Parks Directorate planting trees outside a recently constructed (early/mid 2020) security compound. It’s unclear what its purpose is, but it’s presumably operated by the Turkish military or security forces.
