— by Alperen Keskin —
“Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.*” George Bush said on September 20, 2001; exactly one and a half years before the United States invaded Iraq. This speech created a new term in international relations and politics: the “War on Terror.”
Countless military operations have been conducted by several states in several regions since that speech. All states that conduct military operations claim that they are fighting against terror, sometimes to secure their borders, sometimes to bring stability, and sometimes without any reason.
The danger of the War on Terror started many years ago. There is no clear international law that defines the borders of the War on Terror. Hence, this term became a justification for invasion. Russia and the propaganda of the Russian Federation claimed that they are fighting against terror in Ukraine, Assad bombed Syrian civilians who are “terrorists” in his perspective, and even ISIS killed and tortured thousands of people by justifying it as infidels, or “terrorists against Allah”.
Today we are witnessing a new and more complicated form of War on Terror in Syria. To understand this complicity it is helpful to define each actor in Syria today by mentioning who supports whom.
- Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS): With surprising military operations in South Syria, HTS led the fall of Assad recently. HTS had bonds with al-Qaida which is recognized as a terrorist organization in most of the Western Countries. Even though countries in the region such as the United States and Turkey classify this organization as a terrorist organization, recent developments point out that Turkey is open for negotiations with HTS.
- Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF): Majorly Kurdish military organization that actively governs North East Syria. The United States openly supports SDF forces in the region while Turkey has fought with them on several occasions throughout the Syrian conflict. They have had strong bonds with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) since the beginning of the organization. PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, and Turkey.
- Syrian National Army (SNA) also known as Free Syrian Army: Contrary to its name, this organization is a Turkmen-dominated Turkmen – Arab organization. SNA is majorly created, funded, and supported by Turkey. SNA has been fighting against the Assad regime and SDF, they also took part in the second Karabagh war in favor of Azerbaijan. According to the official videos that are posted by the organization, in SNA-governed territories people are using Turkish Lira. This shows that both SNA and Turkey do not hide their close connection.
Turkey and the US, NATO allies support different terrorist organizations in one region. Unofficially we are witnessing a war in Syria between NATO allies, all have their own interests, and all claim they are in a War on Terrorism. In this point one question must be asked: How safe is the War on Terrorism, while terrorists are the only ones who are gaining benefits?
