A reminder to the SDF: whoever invests in Israel is doomed to lose

The celebrations of the first anniversary of the Syrian revolution showed that a genuine and powerful embrace between the new regime and the people has been realized. The leadership profile displayed by the leader of the revolution, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, during the celebrations offers scenes that reinforce and nourish his leadership qualities and capacity more with each passing day. His discourse, behavior and overall politics also show a major stock of social capital for Syria. A strong, charismatic and organic leadership is a great stroke of luck for a country.

Another distinguishing feature of Sharaa's leadership is that, although he has emerged with such a great success, he never holds back from humility. In none of his statements does he emphasize his own person or his personal achievements. At one meeting he notices the difference between the seat assigned to his Foreign Minister and his own, and does not continue with the program until the seats are made equal. Another striking scene is that neither at the revolution celebrations nor in general anywhere does he allow his own photographs to be displayed. This humility, shown in attributing the revolution to a people and to all his comrades-in-arms, is certainly not something whose like we often see. It is a trait that must definitely be underlined.

In the short span of a year, Syria under Sharaa's leadership has covered a lot of ground. Peace, calm and stability have been established in the controlled areas. The wreckage inherited after 14 years of destruction and 60 years of iron-curtain rule of course cannot be cleared quickly. But Sharaa and his team aspire both to clear this wreckage and to carry Syria to the place it deserves in the world. With strong diplomatic initiatives, and with the support of Türkiye, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, he succeeded in having the US and UN sanctions on Syria lifted. This was a very important step on the road to standing back up.

The greatest threat on Syria's path to overcoming obstacles is undoubtedly Israel. From the first days of the revolution it showed its hostile attitude and continues to do so. Israel sees a united, strong Syria that relies on its own people as a natural enemy. In fact it is not at all wrong in this. No administration that relies on its own people can possibly see Israel as a friend, or even as a normal neighbor. But this abnormality stems not so much from those administrations as, of course, from Israel itself. Because it is Israel that harbors an imperial and occupying intention of expansion, it perceives every power that could spoil this intention as an enemy. For it wants submissive administrations facing it. Assad was one such. It has no problem with other regional actors who continue to be so. It sees Türkiye as a threat because it sees Türkiye as a power that will leave its expansionist ambitions stillborn.

However Israel may see Syria, for Syria to recover and for its people to find the peace they have longed for over a century, it must be whole. For the country's resources to be distributed equally among all citizens, and for the services a state can offer to reach the entire population, Syria must have a unitary structure and all armed elements must be gathered under a single army.

Indeed, all the other elements have been gathered. However, a part of the Druze and the SDG, which holds the whole of the east of the Euphrates with US support and has a structure with heavy weapons, has still not come around to this unification. In fact, early in the revolution, on 10 March, it responded positively to a call in this direction, and an understanding was reached that it would join this integration by the end of this year, that is, by 30 December. But as the deadline approaches, a serious reluctance on the SDG's part in this matter is also evident.

No one believes that the matter has anything to do with the cultural or economic-political rights of the Kurds. In the regions the SDG aspires to keep under its control today and actually controls, the weight of the Arab population is 80 percent. The population of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and other regions consists entirely of Arabs. Indeed, within the SDG there are also the Arab tribes of these regions, especially the Shammar and the Uqaydat tribes. But these tribes are against the SDG's digging in its heels, at Israel's wish, against integration with the central government. These tribes carry strong weight within the SDG, and if the SDG drags this out more than necessary, it could really bring the SDG to exactly the situation Erdoğan described: "going for the rice and losing the bulgur at home."

In fact, the new Syria under Sharaa's leadership offers the Kurds an opportunity to obtain, as equal citizens of the country, the respect and standing they deserve. They are also making a great miscalculation by thinking that Sharaa may remain weak in the face of Israel's intentions and aggressive policies. It is true that since its establishment Israel has made a special investment in the Kurds in the region. But what everyone should know is that Israel has no future in the region. Israel is, sooner or later, an occupying power doomed to lose in this region, and its ever-increasing aggression is preparing its own end all the more.

The greatest cause of the suffering of a people that has suffered for 60 years has been the Assad family, but equally Israel, which saw its cruelties as a guarantee of its own security. After the revolution this truth has come fully to light. In this period the Kurds too received more than their share of this cruelty. But the same Assad, in his war against his own people, tried to use the Kurds, to whom he had not given even identity papers for years, and finally left them to the administration of the US (and therefore of Israel).

Indeed, the wheel has turned and Assad, like all tyrants, is gone. For the first time in a century the Syrian people are in a position to establish the peaceful, just administration they deserve. The Kurds are aware of this. But just as the SDG has no right to bind the will of the Kurds and place it at Israel's service, it will gain no benefit from doing so either. The course of the world is bringing all the peoples of the region, Turks, Kurds and Arabs, to be one and together, to establish a common order together. The SDG must not stand on the wrong side of history.