{"id":50670,"date":"2019-10-08T19:45:45","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T19:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/08\/a-look-at-whos-who-in-northeast-syria-as-war-fears-rise\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:21:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:21:06","slug":"a-look-at-whos-who-in-northeast-syria-as-war-fears-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/08\/a-look-at-whos-who-in-northeast-syria-as-war-fears-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"A look at who\u2019s who in northeast Syria as war fears rise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BEIRUT \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2019\/10\/07\/us-troops-start-pullout-from-along-turkeys-border-in-syria\/\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. troops in Syria would step aside <\/a>to make way for a Turkish military operation against U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters unleashed a torrent of near unanimous criticism and warnings of immediate and long-term negative consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s because the region of northeastern Syria, where the Turkish president intends to launch an operation to carve out a so-called safe zone, is one of the most combustible in Syria\u2019s long-running civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/07\/how-the-us-troop-withdrawal-from-northern-syria-could-create-an-isis-resurgence\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19271508101333.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US withdrawal in Syria is only a small number of special operators, says Trump administration<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">\u201cTurkey has neither the intent, desire, nor capacity to manage 60k detainees in al Hol camp, which State and DoD IGs [inspector general] warn is the nucleus for a resurgent ISIS. Believing otherwise is a reckless gamble with our national security,\u201d Brett McGurk, Trump\u2019s former envoy for the fight against ISIS, tweeted.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A U.S. troop withdrawal and Turkish assault on the area risks re-igniting fighting in a corner of Syria only recently stabilized and where sleeper cells of the Islamic State group continue to operate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also risks creating a new wave of displacement in an area that is home to hundreds of thousands of people, many of them already displaced by previous bouts of fighting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s a look at the various players and what they want: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5234129.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces stand in formation\" class=\"wp-image-61364\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5234129.jpg.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5234129.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5234129.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5234129.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces stand in formation during a victory announcement ceremony over the defeat of the Islamic State group&#8217;s so-called physical caliphate March 23, 2019, at Omar Academy, Deir ez-Zor, Syria. (Staff Sgt. Ray Boyington\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">THE KURDS<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kurds make up 10 percent of Syria\u2019s pre-war population and were an oppressed minority before the country\u2019s conflict started in March 2011. Their presence is concentrated mostly in northern Syria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After President Bashar Assad\u2019s forces abandoned areas in the north at the height of the war to defend areas closer to his seat in Damascus, the Kurds slowly carved out a semi-autonomous region and gained a degree of independence previously unthinkable. After the emergence of the Islamic State group, the U.S. chose the Kurdish fighters to partner with on the ground. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces became <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/03\/23\/us-allied-syrian-force-declares-victory-over-islamic-state\/\" target=_blank>the main U.S.-backed force in Syria in the fight against ISIS<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In March, the SDF captured the last sliver of land held by the extremists, marking the end of the so-called caliphate declared by ISIS\u2019s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014. It lost 11,000 fighters in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Kurds now control an area estimated to be a bit less than 30 percent of Syria, most of it territory with overwhelmingly Arab populations, outside the traditionally Kurdish-majority areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1166774665.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"U.S. troops walk past a Turkish military vehicle during a joint patrol with Turkish troops\" class=\"wp-image-89719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1166774665.jpg.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1166774665.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1166774665.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1166774665.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. troops walk past a Turkish military vehicle during a joint patrol with Turkish troops in the Syrian village of al-Hashisha on the outskirts of Tal Abyad town along the border with Turkish troops, on Sept. 8, 2019. (Delil Souleiman\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TURKEY<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turkey refers to the stretch of territory run by the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters as a \u201cterror corridor\u201d and calls it an existential threat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is because the main Kurdish group there, known as the People\u2019s Protection Units, or YPG, is linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has waged a 35-year old conflict against the Turkish state that has left tens of thousands of people dead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The incursion aims to clear Kurdish fighters from a strip of border territory running east of the Euphrates River to the border with Iraq. Turkey says that once secured, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/09\/08\/to-set-up-safe-zone-us-wades-into-muddled-syria-politics\/\" target=_blank>the area would become a \u201csafe zone\u201d<\/a> allowing the repatriation of some 2 million of the Syrian refugees now on Turkish soil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1011\" height=\"1001\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19280577061022.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-89721\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19280577061022.jpg.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19280577061022.jpg.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19280577061022.jpg.jpg?resize=300,297 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19280577061022.jpg.jpg?resize=768,760 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1011px) 100vw, 1011px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Most of Syria has returned to government control after eight years of war.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the recent U.N. General Assembly, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan showed a map envisaging a zone 480 kilometers (300 mile) and 30 kilometers (18 miles) deep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That would cover most of the territory where the bulk of Syria\u2019s Kurdish population lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The incursion would be Turkey\u2019s third into Syria. In August 2016, Turkish troops moved into a zone in northern Aleppo province, driving away Islamic State militants and Kurdish fighters. In January 2018, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/24\/turkish-army-and-allies-in-total-control-of-syrias-afrin\/\" target=_blank>Turkish troops took control of the Syrian Kurdish run enclave of Afrin<\/a> in northwest Syria. Turkey also maintains troops in Syria\u2019s northern Idlib province to oversee a so-called conflict-free zone there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19281567655265.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-89724\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19281567655265.jpg.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19281567655265.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19281567655265.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19281567655265.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This Sept. 16, 2019, file photo, from left: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting in Ankara, Turkey. (Pavel Golovkin, Pool via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FOREIGN POWERS<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">America maintains some 1,000 troops in Syria who work alongside the Kurdish fighters. Trump, in line with his focus on ending American overseas entanglements has wanted to pull them out from Syria to make good on key campaign promises. He announced a withdrawal in December but was met with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2019\/10\/07\/key-republicans-dems-blast-trumps-surprise-syria-withdrawal\/\" target=_blank>widespread condemnation <\/a>for abandoning Kurdish allies to the Turkish assault. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">America\u2019s foes \u2014 Assad, Russia, and Iran \u2014 all stand to gain from a U.S. troop withdrawal and will likely bide their time until they can move in and retake the area. With their help, Assad has recaptured most of Syrian territory except for the north and east. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/09\/29\/syria-demands-withdrawal-of-all-american-turkish-forces\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19271508582118.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Syria demands withdrawal of all American, Turkish forces<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Syria\u2019s top diplomat on Saturday demanded the immediate withdrawal of American and Turkish forces from the country and said his government reserves the right to defend its territory in any way necessary if they remain.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iran and Russia are both key allies of Assad\u2019s government with troops on the ground in Syria. While they may publicly oppose a Turkish incursion into Syria, they probably don\u2019t mind an operation that diminishes the Kurdish forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of Turkey\u2019s incursions into Syria appeared to have been coordinated with Russia and Iran as part of a quid pro-quo. In 2016 when Ankara launched an offensive against the Islamic State group west of the Euphrates river, Syrian government forces captured rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria\u2019s largest and once commercial center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After last year\u2019s capture by Turkish troops of the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in the north, the government captured rebel-held eastern suburbs of Damascus known as eastern Ghouta, boosting security around Assad\u2019s seat of power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement that U.S. troops in Syria would step aside to make way for a Turkish military operation against U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters unleashed a torrent of near unanimous criticism and warnings of immediate and long-term negative consequences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":89718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,26,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2910],"class_list":["post-50670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"RU5GFSCKUJFMPO3KURIL5CBZVQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/08\/a-look-at-whos-who-in-northeast-syria-as-war-fears-rise\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A look at who\u2019s who in northeast Syria as war fears rise - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement that U.S. troops in Syria would step aside to make way for a Turkish military operation against U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters unleashed a torrent of near unanimous criticism and warnings of immediate and long-term negative consequences.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A look at who\u2019s who in northeast Syria as war fears rise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement that U.S. troops in Syria would step aside to make way for a Turkish military operation against U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters unleashed a torrent of near unanimous criticism and warnings of immediate and long-term negative consequences.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/08\/a-look-at-whos-who-in-northeast-syria-as-war-fears-rise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-08T19:45:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T08:21:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zeina Karam, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zeina Karam, The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading 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