US Congressional Committee: Turkey's actions in Syria endanger religious diversity

A certain congressional oversight body said that Turkey and its agents limit the rights of religious minorities in northern Syria, and they will continue to do so if the United States does not intervene to stop them.

"The United States cannot turn a blind eye with the emergence of this catastrophe," said Nadine Mainza, vice-president of the USCIRF.

Nadine Mainza added, referring to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria: "This situation directly jeopardizes the precious ethnic and religious diversity, which has characterized the northeast for a long time, and threatens the survival and stability of autonomous administration."

During a virtual session yesterday, the bipartisan group called on the Trump administration to put pressure Turkey to withdraw from northeastern Syria, parts of which were invaded in October after President Donald Trump announced the sudden withdrawal of US forces from the region.

The committee also demanded that the upcoming US sanctions against Syria be applied in a way that excludes and saves autonomous administration, whose officials have expressed fears that they will be among the unintended victims of Washington's pressure campaign on Damascus.

On the same day, the US agency called on the administration to increase pressure on Ankara, as the agency released its annual report on religious freedom, which indicated that many Syrians have been reluctant to return to their homes since the Turkish invasion because of the intimidation practiced by Syrian groups allied with Turkey.

A visiting researcher at Harvard University and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center Amy Austin Holmes said that the situation in northeastern Syria has greatly worsened for Christians - including Assyrians, Syriacs, Chaldeans and Armenians - as well as Yezidis.

"They killed, kidnapped, raped, detained, forced people to change their faith, and kidnapped many people for ransom, as well as places of worship were destroyed and vandalized, and even the graves were destroyed and vandalized," said Amy Austin Holmes.

Human rights organizations have also documented widespread abuses, including the kidnapping of Kurds and Yezidis by rebels allied to Turkey, now known as the Syrian National Army.

Amy Austin Holmes has warned that unless Turkey withdraws from areas under its control, which include Tel Abyad, Ras al-Ain and Afrin, religious minorities are unlikely to return to their homes.

"They live in constant fear of kidnapping again, and this is a way to participate in ethnic cleansing and demographic change," said Amy Austin Holmes.

In recent years, the area of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria have become a safe haven for Kurds and other groups that have long been deprived of their rights under the rule of the Baath Party.

"The members of ethnic and religious minorities live in relative peace, and this work is still going on, but recent trends (from the American withdrawal to the return of ISIS) threaten to hinder this progress," said Hassan Hassan, director of the Non-State Actors and Political Geography Actors at the Center for Global Policy.

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ANHA