For Jolani, The Kurds Are Next

Memri

3 days ago

Eight months after the fall of the Assad regime, Syria has plunged further into sectarian and ethnic violence. The U.S. policy of legitimizing and supporting the Syrian Interim Government with the intention of stabilizing the country, has so far failed; it has instead enabled the militias to carry out numerous massacres with full impunity and no accountability. The chaos resulting from the attack against the Alawite and Druze minorities by the government has now spread across Syria. Minorities are being systematically targeted with thousands of civilians killed, women abused, and forced into sexual slavery, and hundreds of thousands of people displaced.
Children massacred by Al-Nusra front, led by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, August 5, 2013
After Alawites And The Druze, The Kurds Are Next
Recent remarks by Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Turkey and special envoy for Syria, in which he likened Al-Sharaa – a former ISIS and Al-Qaeda member – to George Washington,[1] and rejected federalism for Kurds and other minorities,[2] have been interpreted by the Syrian government as a green light to attack Syria's minorities. After deadly attacks against the Alawites, Druze, and Christians, the Kurds are now the next target of Syrian government backed by Turkey.
Since Assad's fall, Turkish proxy forces have launched several large-scale attacks against the Kurds, committing unspeakable atrocities against civilians including massacres, rape, and sexual slavery. If the U.S. pressures the Kurds to disarm, they will face mass killings at the hands of Syrian government forces and Turkish-backed militias.
The Kurds have been the most reliable ally of the U.S. in Syria for over a decade; they lost more than 11,000 fighters in the fight against ISIS. Kurdish forces are guarding approximately 9,000 battle-hardened ISIS terrorists in detention facilities, described as a "ticking time bomb" and "a terrorist army in detention" by U.S. officials.[3] There is no guarantee that the Syrian government would keep these terrorists imprisoned. If the Kurds lose control over Northeast Syria, the U.S. will not only lose a loyal partner in the fight against terrorism, but also risk an ISIS resurgence.
"There Is No God But Allah, Kurds Are The Enemies Of Allah"
Ahmed Al-Sharaa and his militia groups have a long history of takfiri[4] jihad against the Kurds in Syria, guided not by religious difference, as the majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but by their ethnic prejudices against the Kurds, who are not ethnically Arab. In 2013, sheikhs of the Al-Nusra Front led by Al-Sharaa (then Abu Muhammed Al-Jolani) issued the following fatwa against Kurds: "Kurds are kuffar [unbelievers] and killing Kurds, taking their women, plundering their property, and destroying their homes is just and fair."[5]
In the first half of 2013, Al-Nusra Front, allied with ISIS and supported by Turkish forces, carried out brutal attacks across Kurdish regions. They burned Kurdish homes, killed civilians indiscriminately, and continued to kidnap many Kurds on a daily basis throughout Syria's Kurdish region, all with Turkish military support on the ground. Al-Nusra carried out numerous massacres of Kurds including approximately 450 people, mainly women and children in Tal Abyad, Tal Hassil, and Tal A'ran. Al-Nusra massacred 120 children and 330 men and women in the district of Tal Abyad on August 5, 2013. More than 1,200 Kurds, men and women, were abducted during this period.[6]
In 2018-2019, Al-Sharaa's Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) militia (formerly Al-Nusra) participated in the ethnic cleansing of nearly 500,000 Kurds in northern Syria, particularly Afrin and Serekaniya, in systematic ethnic cleansing campaigns carried out by Turkey to change the demography of the region by settling Arabs, Turkmens, and families of foreign fighters in place of displaced Kurds.[7]
Since Al-Sharaa declared himself president of Syria, a calculated and coordinated hate campaign has been launched against Kurds by Syrian media affiliated with the government and Turkish media, with the aim of fueling hatred and inciting violence against the Kurds. "Lā ilāha illā Allāh, a-l-Kurdī ʿaduw Allāh [There is no god but Allah, the Kurd is the enemy of Allah]" has become a popular sectarian and racist slogans chanted by supporters of Al-Sharaa.[8]
Ethnic discrimination policies against Kurds have reached alarming levels. On July 21, 2025, Kurdish youths were arrested in Damascus for speaking Kurdish in public.[9] Between July 19-22, 2025, at least 25 Kurds, including underage girls, were abducted by Syrian government forces.[10]
These anti-Kurd campaigns are widely seen as a preparatory stage for a military attack against the Kurds. By portraying Kurds as foreigners, saboteurs, Zionist agents, and enemies of the state, Syria and Turkey seek to rally around Arab and Turkic takfiri groups. Declaring Kurds "enemies of God" provides religious legitimacy for their murder and sexual enslavement. If the Syrian regime forces manage to occupy the Kurdish region, a full-scale genocide of Kurds and Christians is to follow in northern Syria.
Turkey's Neo-Ottoman Ambitions: "The Road to Jerusalem Goes Through Damascus"
The fall of Assad has effectively eliminated the influence of Iran and Russia in Syria, but it has conversely opened the door for Turkey to take control of the country and implement its neo-Ottoman colonial policies. Turkey's end goal is not a peaceful and prosperous Syria, but rather a centralized regime controlled by Ankara, which it can use as a launchpad to target Israel and destabilize the Middle East.
While the Shiite "Axis of Resistance" led by Iran has been largely weakened, a new Sunni "Axis of Resistance" led by Turkey and funded by Qatar is emerging in Syria, which is, in the long run, anti-American, anti-Western, and anti-Israeli. Before the fall of Assad, the Kurdish forces were a major obstacle to IRGC expansionism in Syria due to their geographical position. Similarly, they are now a major obstacle for Turkey and Qatar's ambitions to form a Sunni coalition hostile to American and Israeli interests.
Conclusion: Kurds And Other Minorities Demand Federalism
In a recent interview U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack claimed, "I think all of the minority communities are smart enough to say, 'We're better off together, centralized.'"[11] This statement contradicts the consistent demands from minorities – Kurds, Alawites, Druzes, and Christians – for a decentralized, federal system, and an end to authoritarianism.
Al-Sharaa's reliance on sectarian, extremist policies, have led to bloodbaths in large parts of Syria. As president of Syria, he has failed to meet U.S. expectations: Rather than guiding the country toward stability, his government has intensified repression against minorities and increased sectarian violence across Syria. Therefore, a new U.S. Syria policy is needed to prevent further sectarian and ethnic bloodshed, to prioritize a federal system that gives communities control over their regions. On top of that, Turkey must be prevented from dominating Syria and use it a staging ground to destabilize the region and undermine U.S. interests.
The U.S. must continue to support the Kurds in Northern Syria who control around 30 percent of the country. If the U.S. abandons the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition, it will not only betray a loyal partner, it will also lose its foothold in Syria and risk the creation of an anti-American Sunni "Axis of Resistance."
*Himdad Mustafa is special advisor to MEMRI's Kurdish Studies Project.