In the past week in Syria, the forces of the Takfiri-sectarian HTS (Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, Organization for the Liberation of the Levant), after seizing Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, turned toward the Euphrates River. By severing and drawing in Arab tribes within the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces)—which is led by the PYD (Democratic Union Party, a Kurdish party on the PKK line)—they crossed to the eastern bank of the Euphrates. While the HTS military advance continued, a negotiation table was established in Damascus between HTS and SDF leaders. This table collapsed as a result of the impositions by HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, which amounted to unconditional surrender. With the switching of sides by Arab tribes, HTS, now dominating Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, has besieged Hasakah and Kobane, where the Kurdish population is concentrated. During this process, prisons containing ISIS prisoners also fell under the control of HTS forces. HTS's military advance temporarily halted after a new ceasefire agreement with the SDF. In statements regarding this agreement, while a 4-day ceasefire was declared, it was noted that a consensus was reached on the integration of SDF armed forces into the Syrian Arab Army led by HTS, that Mazlum Abdi would propose candidates for the Deputy Defense Minister and the Governor of Hasakah on behalf of the SDF, and that HTS forces would not enter the Hasakah city center or Kurdish villages.
While all these developments were occurring, the Kurdish people showed intense anger against the possibility of Rojava being crushed under the Takfiri boots. Beyond Rojava, the Kurdish people in Turkey and Iraq have also entered a state of widespread self-defense mindset and mass mobilization. Regardless of the bargains and agreements Kurdish political leaderships enter into with HTS at the tables of imperialism and colonialism, the Kurdish people see merely a reflection of the ISIS barbarism in Takfiri-sectarian gangs. This anger of the Kurdish people is as unifying as it is justified in the eyes of the peoples of West Asia (Middle East) of every faith, nation, and homeland, who have experienced Takfiri-sectarian massacres and have seen how imperialism, Zionism, and colonialism come charging on the way paved by ISIS.
Imperialism and colonialism are not uniting Syria with their Takfiri-sectarian proxies; they are tearing it apart!
It is clear that these developments have brought the political situation in Syria to a new qualitative stage following the overthrow of Assad. This new qualitative stage reached in Syria is toward the state-building of HTS—a Takfiri-sectarian structure—with the support of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, under American patronage, and with the authorization of Israel. Contrary to what is claimed, this development cannot be seen as a move toward the unity and integrity of Syria. On the contrary, in the background of this development lie the massacres and attempted massacres by the Takfiri-sectarian HTS against Alawites and Druze, who are part of Syria’s Arab population. From the Kurdish perspective, it means nothing but being squeezed into regions east of the Euphrates and targeted for disarmament through ethnic cleansing and mass migration, thereby being left vulnerable to the threat of mass slaughter. Kurds are indigenous inhabitants of Syria at least as much as Arabs. The military power of the Takfiri-sectarian HTS also includes professional fighters who have come to Syria from abroad, particularly from the Caucasus and Central Asia. HTS also receives financial, military, and political support from foreign countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Finally, it acts under the patronage of US imperialism and with the authorization of Israel. HTS’s forced imposition of its will on the indigenous peoples of Syria through the patronage and support of these foreign powers carries no Syrian character in any sense of the word. It does not unite Syria; it tears it apart.
HTS forces are establishing dominance in Syria as American and Israeli proxies
Most importantly, HTS has not fired a single bullet at Israel, which is actively occupying Syrian territory; it has not put forward any claim of dominance over regions controlled by Israel; and finally, it launched its military operation toward Aleppo and later toward the east of the Euphrates by leaning its back on Israel, following the agreement reached with Israel in Paris. In the Paris talks, HTS and Israel moved toward expanding political and commercial cooperation into a military security partnership; HTS gave assurances to Israel and, receiving assurances in return, embarked on the military offensive. HTS forces are establishing dominance in Syria as American and Israeli proxies. With HTS forces reaching the Iraqi border, the deployment of Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi forces at the border indicates that the true nature of this development has been grasped by its stakeholders. Although HTS cannot be expected to turn toward Iraq with regular forces in the short term, it would not be surprising if ISIS prisoners who escaped or were released from prisons during the chaos of this process were effectively tasked for this purpose.
The legitimacy of the Kurdish people's demands does not depend on anyone's authorization
The demands of the Kurdish people toward self-determination cannot be evaluated based on whether they are considered suitable as a political project. These demands must be evaluated as rights. These rights are the rights of Kurds, just like everyone else, on the basis of the principle of full equality of nations and languages. Under the guise of the so-called political unity of Syria, the legitimate rights and demands of the Kurdish people cannot be denied. The steps taken by HTS toward recognizing the Kurdish language and identity are not steps taken toward Kurdish equality, but steps taken to limit the fundamental rights and freedoms of Kurds and to legitimize keeping the Kurdish people under the yoke.
The patronage of imperialism and Zionism is a disgrace for all peoples!
For all peoples of Syria, the patronage of imperialism and Zionism is a disgrace. Today, we are faced with the shameless stance taken by American imperialism and European Union countries regarding the atrocities experienced by the Kurdish people. However, it must be clearly stated that the stance of US and European imperialism is not a surprise. The “alliance” relationship of imperialism with the SDF has never been a relationship between equals; it has been unilaterally determined by the US and has always been officially limited to the fight against ISIS. From the very first moment, the fight against ISIS has been the code name for American interests, and this has never changed. Therefore, HTS’s participation in the US-led coalition established in the name of fighting ISIS is also an informal declaration of submission to the US. In this context, the reproaches and criticisms of various components of the Kurdish movement toward the US have no political validity or reality. It has been clearly seen that US support and patronage are no guarantee of anything in the name of the Kurds' gains in Rojava.
The code name for American interests: The alliance against ISIS
It is known that the US provides significant military equipment and training support to the YPG and provides air support when American interests require it. On the other hand, an inseparable part of this armament in the military field has been the political disarmament of the Kurdish people as a whole. The most fundamental, justified, and legitimate demands of the Kurdish people were based on the success shown and the price paid by the PYD as an ally of the US in the fight against ISIS. This rotten ground has been shattered as of today by these words of the American envoy Thomas Barrack: “The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by Kurds, proved the most effective ground partner in defeating ISIS’s territorial caliphate by 2019, detaining thousands of ISIS fighters and family members in prisons and camps like al-Hol and al-Shaddadi. At that time, there was no functioning central Syrian state to partner with—the Assad regime was weakened, contested, and not a viable partner against ISIS due to its alliances with Iran and Russia. Today, the situation has fundamentally changed. Syria now has an acknowledged central government that has joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (as its 90th member in late 2025), signaling a westward pivot and cooperation with the US on counterterrorism.”
It is not imperialism that deters HTS, but the self-defense of the Kurdish people
Furthermore, the PYD leadership committed a fatal error by viewing the dominance it gained in Arab regions such as Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor and in energy basins, under US support and patronage in exchange for its success in the fight against ISIS, as a legitimate gain. It is now crystal clear that the motivation of the Arab tribes who participated in this process by joining the SDF under PYD leadership was not the “pluralistic third way of the Rojava revolution,” but the military-political coordination of US imperialism and the consent of collaborator Arab states, primarily Saudi Arabia. The PYD’s basing of its political legitimacy not on the Kurdish people's right to self-determination but on the alliance with the US has turned into a weakness for the Kurdish people. The ambivalent stances taken regarding Israel's promises of support to the PYD within its regional competition with Turkey have deepened this weakness. Finally, Article 8 of the March 10, 2025 agreement defined the Alawite massacre by Takfiri-sectarian HTS gangs as “the struggle against the remnants of the Assad regime and elements threatening the security and unity of the country” and declared the SDF’s support for HTS. Mazlum Abdi, who signed this article while the UN Security Council was called for an emergency meeting due to the Alawite massacres, extended a lifeline to Ahmad al-Sharaa at a time he was in dire straits, and today that lifeline turned into a rope has been placed around the neck of the Kurdish people by al-Sharaa himself. These wrong stances of the Kurdish political leaderships have not gained the Kurdish people real allies. On the contrary, they have played into the hands of colonialist powers who want to politically isolate the Kurdish people in the face of an imperialist/Zionist-backed offensive today.
The US’s “run with the hare, hunt with the hounds” policy, or the good cop-bad cop game
At this stage, one should not exaggerate the articulation of different trends within US imperialism regarding the process in Syria. Thomas Barrack, who acts as a patron for HTS and wags his finger at the Kurds, and Lindsey Graham, who acts as a patron for the SDF and threatens HTS with sanctions from the American Senate, are merely two sides of the same imperialist coin. In the final analysis, these should be seen as imperialist politicians who “run with the hare, hunt with the hounds.” By playing the good cop-bad cop game, they are portraying the US as a power that still keeps HTS out of Hasakah and Kobane and protects the Kurds. However, this has nothing to do with reality. HTS’s military advance is far from being a product of its military capacity. The US first portrayed the east of the Euphrates as a safe zone for Kurds in Aleppo and broke the resistance. Later, the US again mediated in the withdrawal of Kurdish armed forces toward Hasakah and also in the transfer of prisons containing ISIS prisoners to HTS. Finally, it is no longer the presence of the US that deters HTS and directs it toward a ceasefire, but the self-defense of the Kurdish people. The taking of a self-defense position in Kurdish-populated cities and villages in Syria, combined with the mass mobilization shown by the Kurdish people in Turkey and Iraq, deters HTS and the powers supporting it. At this point, the US intervenes once again, not to stop HTS, but to impose its proxy’s political dominance on the Kurdish people.
The colonialist bourgeoisie is pleased; the “oil opening” continues
The political picture that has emerged in Syria today also reveals the true nature of the “opening” process in Turkey. There are different views on whether what is happening in Syria will affect the process in Turkey positively or negatively. According to one view, the resolution of the conflict in Syria in some way will advance the process in Turkey. The fact that the opening commission established in the TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey) has accelerated its work on a joint report is cited as evidence for this. On the other hand, statements made by the government wing regarding the process in Syria have been of the kind that reveal true intentions. It is clear that when Devlet Bahçeli, partner of Erdoğan’s governing coalition and the leader of the biggest fascist party in Turkey, uses the term “area cleaning” across the east of the Euphrates, it is perceived by the Kurdish people as an implication of “ethnic cleansing.” Yet, once, almost every statement made by the Kurdish movement began by offering Bahçeli thanks and compliments. Furthermore, it is significant that Devlet Bahçeli still makes reference to Abdullah Öcalan, the PKK’s (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) imprisoned leader, and accuses the PYD leadership of disobedience to Öcalan. This comment by Bahçeli has not been refuted by Öcalan, even though a meeting with a delegation took place very recently. Ultimately, if the nature of this process is considered—where claims of democracy or solution are merely make-up, and the goal of liquidation is the reality—the answer is clear. If, as we have defined from the beginning, the nature of this process is an “oil opening,” it is clear that what is happening in Syria strengthens the colonialist bourgeoisie’s access to Syria’s energy basins. In this form, it can be thought that the colonialist bourgeoisie predicts that the process will not harm the oil opening. On the other hand, it is clear that it will produce negative results in terms of the Kurdish people’s rightful and legitimate demands for equality. This situation may cause different trends to develop within the Kurdish bourgeoisie, which until now has seemed largely engaged with the oil opening, especially due to pressure coming from the poor Kurdish masses.
Those who seek victory in the shadow of imperialism will find nothing but disappointment
Yesterday, today, and always, those who seek victory in the shadow of imperialism will find nothing but disappointment. This is also true for the Syrian Arab people. The so-called victory thought to have been achieved against the Kurds under the patronage of US imperialism has shackled the present and the future of the Syrian Arab people. With the advance of HTS forces in Syria, nothing has been secured except for US and Israeli interests. The path HTS has entered has presented an example of attaining power under the wings of imperialism for Takfiri-sectarian reaction in West Asia. We have persistently stated from the beginning that this will create a reactionary wind that will fill the sails of Takfiri-sectarian reaction in Turkey and West Asia. It is a textbook contradiction that a broad segment in Turkey, which supposedly attaches great importance to the Republic and secularism, applauds HTS gangs under the influence of the racist-nationalist propaganda of the colonialist bourgeoisie and with a “unitary state” obsession. It is similarly textbook that those who condemn the Kurdish movement in Syria with anti-imperialist rhetoric are at a point of applauding an imperialist and Zionist operation.
True anti-imperialists do not seek the patronage of imperialism against the Kurds; they shall try to win over their Kurdish brothers and sisters to the ranks against imperialism
Today, it is proven over and over again that anti-imperialism and internationalism form an inseparable whole. If the working class and laboring people of Turkey want to break the imperialist chains, they must try to win over their Kurdish brothers and sisters against imperialism instead of seeking the patronage of imperialism against the Kurds. Moving from this reality, revolutionary class politics requires defending the rights of the Kurdish people not just as a human rights issue, but as a necessity of the anti-imperialist struggle. Without a doubt, the criticism of all politics that seek help from imperialism is a duty. On the other hand, in a country such as Turkey that is a member of NATO, that acts as a shield for Israel for imperialism, and that hosts bases that rain death upon West Asia—primarily the Palestinian people subjected to genocide—and whose people are shackled by the chains of imperialism, the primary duty is to break the imperialist chains in our own country. It is to struggle against the policies of the colonialist bourgeoisie in our own country.