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NPR’s Leila Fadel asks former State Division official Wa’el Alzayat concerning the prospects of Kurdish forces reaching an settlement to affix the Syrian military forward of an end-of-year deadline.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Syria has simply days to combine Kurdish militia forces into its nationwide navy. The Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and the brand new Syrian authorities signed a peace deal in March with a deadline of the tip of this yr. However that integration not solely hasn’t occurred but. Simply this week, the SDF and Syria’s nationwide forces fought one another within the metropolis of Aleppo. The 2 sides rapidly agreed to cease taking pictures, nevertheless it’s not clear how lengthy that can final. So what does this all imply for the way forward for this new Syria’s safety and its nationwide unity? To debate that, we’re joined by Wa’el Alzayat. He’s a former Syria outreach coordinator on the State Division. Good morning, and thanks for being on this system.
WA’EL ALZAYAT: Good morning. Thanks for having me.
FADEL: Wa’el, the deadline is just some days away. Is there a path that this integration can occur?
ALZAYAT: It is unclear. It doesn’t essentially imply that there might be an all-out struggle if this deadline comes and goes with that settlement, nevertheless it actually raises the prospects of 1 or a minimum of continued skirmishes like we simply seen a couple of days in the past.
FADEL: Yeah.
ALZAYAT: However positively, I believe each side do perceive, I believe, that the prospect of that all-out struggle is – could be devastating for all concerned. And the leaderships on each side are attempting to keep away from it, however positively there’s an deadlock.
FADEL: What are the principle challenges right here, the principle sticking factors? Is it…
ALZAYAT: Yeah.
FADEL: …A scarcity of belief?
ALZAYAT: That, for certain. They merely not solely not know one another properly, however they fought towards one another earlier than the toppling of Assad, but additionally the mixing of the navy items of the Kurdish militias, the SDF, the Syrian Democratic Forces, into the broader nationwide military. Damascus needs them to be built-in as people, whereas the SDF needs them to be built-in as a complete unit. And that is a extremely huge sticking level for each side.
FADEL: Now, the SDF, the Kurdish-dominated forces, are U.S. backed. How concerned is the U.S. in these negotiations, and the way concerned ought to they be?
ALZAYAT: Very a lot on each side, from the March settlement until now, the U.S. – the Trump administration, Ambassador Tom Barrack – have been closely concerned, in addition to the Pentagon and CENTCOM in attempting to bridge these variations. The U.S. has personnel in that space. It has a stake in each side coming to settlement, given their mutual want to battle and stop the return of the Islamic State and different counterterrorism priorities. In order that they’re closely concerned in all features, they usually nonetheless are till this very second.
FADEL: I need to come again to that difficulty of belief. I imply, the brand new president of Syria, Ahmed Sharaa, was designated as a terrorist by the U.S. just some months in the past, one thing like seven months in the past. And I’ve heard from a whole lot of minorities in Syria trepidation about his historical past and about issues which have occurred since he took energy – Syrian forces killing minorities, Alawites, Druze. And now this Kurdish settlement appears to be falling by way of. Can a united, various Syria emerge in these situations after, you understand, so lengthy beneath dictatorship beneath the Assad regime?
ALZAYAT: It could possibly if the Syrians need it to, and the vast majority of Syrians need the nation to remain collectively and to maneuver on past its troubled historical past and to rebuild. You realize, I visited the nation thrice for the reason that elimination of Assad. And there is pleasure. There’s hope.
FADEL: Yeah.
ALZAYAT: And there are these critical, critical challenges. You talked about the episodic violence that we noticed on the coast…
FADEL: Yeah.
ALZAYAT: …In Suwayda and the south. And, you understand, many of us thought that if and when Assad is defeated or is moved, it might be – and I hate to say it – a complete lot bloodier and rather a lot messier, extra like Rwanda and Bosnia. And fortunately it hasn’t been, however there are these challenges. Now, I’d say that the – you understand, President Sharaa and his staff have, clearly, I believe, a protracted approach to go when it comes to inclusive governance however have finished a reasonably good job in guaranteeing that the violence that is occurred doesn’t spiral uncontrolled. They usually’ve been counseled for it, and I believe rightfully as a result of what we noticed on the coast in Suwayda, I believe, had been actually a prelude to an all-out civil struggle that on the finish, the federal government safety forces ended up intervening and placing an finish to.
FADEL: Now, this explicit second with the Kurds, you mentioned you are not anticipating an all-out struggle. What’s your hope within the subsequent few days? We simply have a couple of seconds.
ALZAYAT: Yeah. I believe that they both attain an settlement or proceed to commit themselves to peaceable dialogue and a political course of. Even when it takes longer, it is a complete lot higher than an all-out struggle.
FADEL: Wa’el Alzayat is a former Syria outreach coordinator on the State Division. He is now the CEO of the Muslim American advocacy group Emgage. Thanks a lot to your time.
ALZAYAT: Thanks.
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