Ilham Ahmed: Pro-government forces must leave Qamishlo entirely, countries must take back their citizens

In response to Al-Monitor's question, Elham Ahmed said: “What we have seen is that every president comes from a party that has its own strategy and policy with regard to Syria.” Ilham replied: “In general, we expect that the US strategy is to protect its internal security first by fighting terrorism side by side with the Kurds and the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Ahmed also talked about the situation in northeastern Syria in a hypothetical interview held by the Research Center in Washington.  She said, "The Autonomous Administration enjoys a large degree of independence, despite the limited presence of the Syrian government in the region and does not fully recognize its administration. The population consists of Kurds, Arabs, Aramaic-speaking Christians, Turkmen, Yazidis, and others."

 She added, "The main military force in the region is the Syrian Democratic Forces, which the United States supported against ISIS. The paramilitary People's Protection Units (YPG) lead the Syrian Democratic Forces, although Arab and Christian fighters are part of their strength."

 During her statements, Ilham referred to the Trump's announcement of withdrawal of US forces from northeastern Syria 2019 to make room for a Turkish military intervention against the Syrian Democratic Forces.  Trump ended up keeping US forces there, but the announcement and relocation of US forces enabled Turkey to launch the attack.  Currently, US forces remain in Syria under the leadership of current President Joe Biden.

 Ahmed said she hoped the United States did not plan to withdraw again in the future.

 "We hope that the Syrian Kurdish fighters will not see the same decision to withdraw, and that the United States will protect its allies who have helped fight ISIS for years," she said.

 Elham Ahmed also touched on the recent fighting between the Internal Security Forces and the mercenaries of the "National Defense" of the Damascus government, in Qamishlo, and said: "Last month, clashes broke out between the internal security forces and the national defense loyal to the government. The fighting ended after a few days with the ceasefire.  With Russian mediation, since then, most of the National Defense Forces left Al Tayy neighborhood where the fighting took place, but they maintained a limited presence in a position of the Syrian government.

 Elham indicated her fear of a return to fighting again.  She said, "The pro-government forces should leave Qamishlo completely, because they always cause problems."  Confirming that they randomly kidnap people, demand ransom, and arrest civilians.

 According to Elham Ahmed, the efforts of the Autonomous Administration to negotiate with the Syrian government on this issue have failed.

 She said, "We requested negotiations with the regime several times, but they did not accept to solve the problems through dialogue."

 On the issue of foreign detainees belonging to ISIS in the region, Elham Ahmed reiterated the demands of the Autonomous Administration and the United Nations, calling on countries to take back their citizens from camps and detention centers in northeastern Syria.

 Regarding the Syrian presidential elections, Elham said, "There is no doubt that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is the winner in the upcoming elections in the country."  "We do not expect any change," she said.  "The president will remain as he is."

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 Source: Al-Monitor