Syrian Democratic Council and diplomatic work
The tours carried out by the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) and its meetings with the actors of the Syrian issue implied many indications that confirm the importance of the political project of the SDC. The meetings held by the SDC in both Washington and Moscow confirmed the existence of Russian-American attempts to attract Assad. The diplomatic move of the SDC has increased the volume of malicious media campaigns against north and east Syria and distorted the reality of this diplomatic move by the Syrian regime, the Turkish state and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Undoubtedly, the victories that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDC) managed to achieve in Baghouz, the last stronghold of the terrorist organization of ISIS, which was a threat to international peace and security, turned it from local military forces into an effective partner for the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, as this step constituted an obsession with the Baathist regime and the Turkish state. Despite their attempts to highlight their fight against terrorism, the Assad government and the Turkish state continued their unsuccessful attempts to break the gathering of the people of the region around the SDF. There were many stations in which both regimes sought to use psychological warfare methods and black propaganda in order to distort the image of the SDF and SDC.
The SDC has shown greater diplomatic flexibility than before with the aim of reaching political solutions aimed at advancing the solution in Syria, after it worked to overcome many obstacles that stood in the way of the intra-Syrian dialogue, from the initiatives presented by the SDC to unite the various political bodies of the internal and external opposition to its continuous readiness for dialogue with the Syrian government. These concrete steps by the SDC were welcomed by the United States and Russia which praised the position of the SDC, but this welcome was met by raising the pace of targeting both the SDC and the SDF.
Given the effectiveness of the SDF in combating terrorism, both the Turkish state, through its affiliated Muslim Brotherhood, and the Syrian regime, through its method of distortion, sought to target the pillars on which the SDF is based in their areas of existence, which are security and food stability. Therefore, the Turkish-backed Muslim Brotherhood, through its own lobby, have sought to penetrate the Western media to promote the release of ISIS mercenaries in exchange for sums of money, in addition to the SDF’s willingness to release hundreds of ISIS members, the matter categorically denied by the SDF. In addition, this media propaganda funded by Brotherhood groups coincided with smear campaigns pursued by the Baathist regime about the invalidity of the wheat seed that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sent to distribute to the farmers in the regions of northeast Syria as an initiative to support the region’s economy.
This data came simultaneously and suggested the unification of the targeting front through coordinating Turkish threats to carry out an aggressive operation towards safe areas and carry out assassinations by drones, in addition to the insistence of the Russian sponsor for the SDC to lower the horizons of the conditions that obstruct the dialogue; Thus, the two sides sought to target the SDC and the SDF alike. Of course, the most prominent goal of the smear campaigns is to push SDC to make more concessions in favor of the regime in the dialogue that Russia seeks to sponsor, in addition to insisting on limiting the road map that SDC had drawn up – which crystallizes in the idea that Syria is able to reach a political solution – in the regions of northeastern Syria and the Syrian Jazira Region in particular, in addition to trying to show that it has a separatist and nationalist agenda with the aim of fueling racial strife within the body of the SDC and the SDF.
On the other hand, according to the available data, there are attempts to strengthen the position of the SDC, which is reflected, according to the information, in the interest shown by Washington and prominent American officials to the SDC delegation, which aims to try to involve the SDC in any project for a solution in Syria, since it is the only force that has maintained its presence in the Syrian crisis. It is likely that Washington will seek to find a formula for accepting the SDC as a permanent political party in the political process with Arab support to resolve the Syrian crisis.
In sum, the campaigns of distortion and misinformation by the aforementioned hostile forces will continue to create obstacles through various means against the policy of the SDC.
Alan Daoud
