Syrian Kurdish Leader: “ISIS will be at Israel’s borders if the world won’t help us”
Syrian Kurdish leader Sherkoh Abbas, President of the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria, told JerusalemOnline in an exclusive interview that the Kurds are being ethnically cleansed from their lands and the Druze also face an existential threat. He stressed that if the world does not help them, ISIS will be along the Israeli border.

Sep 08, 2015, 01:04PM | Rachel Avraham

In an exclusive interview with JerusalemOnline, Syrian Kurdish leader Sherkoh Abbas noted that Syria is currently being overrun by Islamist radicals, whether they are the Syrian government/Iranian-backed terror groups or Al Qaeda linked Islamist organizations like ISIS and Jabhat Al Nusra: “Both are radicals that are not good for the country. The regime has caused the displacement of a generation. It is not good for the Syrian people or the regional countries. It is a threat to the international community. It can lead to a breeding ground for terrorism. Now, Russia is turning Syria into another Afghanistan with the Iranians and others on their side.”



Abbas noted that within Syria, the two main groups that are not hostile towards Israel are the Kurds and the Druze, noting that both of these peoples are fighting for their very survival in the face of an existential threat but are not getting the assistance that they need from Israel and the international community in general: “Israel has not intervened like most of the world to help have a peaceful and federal Syria that will bolster the security of Israel. Israel is not doing anything at the moment. Only minor acts to help the Druze but nothing for the Kurds.”

According to Abbas, there is not a danger that ISIS will take over all of Syria because the international community won’t let that happen but there is a great concern that the chaos that has spread throughout the country will lead to a significant rise in extremism: “Russia and Iran intervened directly to attack the groups that would threaten the regime and only then went after ISIS. Turkey and the others are interested in eliminating groups that threaten them before ISIS. ISIS they save for the last. Syria is a failed state. It does not exist as a state. As a result, millions of people have been displaced. In the northwest of Syria, in 2011, it was 97 percent Kurdish. Now, it is about 70 percent Arab.”

“The numbers and demographics are not good for Kurds,” he noted. “The regime needed to do ethnic cleansing without having to be involved. It is a wealthy area with oil. All of those areas along the Turkish border have been emptied out. It is good for Turkey for it will prevent a Kurdish autonomous region. That area now has less Kurds. They are moving pro-regime Arabs into that area. The Kurds will be a minority in that area and that serves the interests of Iran, Assad, and Turkey. It does undermine the Kurds. It will happen to the Druze soon. When there is a political settlement, it will serve Russia, Iran, Assad, and the neighboring countries but not the Kurds. Five years ago, ten years ago, there would have been a no fly zone preventing this. Iran and Assad are one step ahead of the West. They are portraying the Syrian opposition as radicals and Assad as keeping the peace.”

For this reason, the Assad regime removed the radical Al Qaeda linked terrorists from jail so that they could ethnically cleanse the Kurds from the area without the regime and the Iranian axis facing international repercussions as the instigators of this wanton aggression. Additionally, by having Al Qaeda linked groups join the ranks of the Syrian Opposition, it destroys the image of the Syrian Opposition and has effectively transformed the Syrian regime from being perceived as a government committing democide to partners in the War against Terrorism. Abbas noted that a great many ISIS terrorist leaders were former Baathists and the fact that the Assad regime is secular does not mean that they aren’t aligned with radical Islamist terror groups: “It was much sexier to use the name of Islam at the expense of the Syrian people.” He stressed that since both Assad and Iran know how to play the West, America and Europe did not pick up on the connections between ISIS and Iran, between the Syrian regime and ISIS, etc.

Abbas noted that the Obama administration is supporting Turkey regarding this and Obama’s policies have led to “a disaster for humanity and the world by forcing four to six million people to leave the country and destroying every single cultural place within Syria as well as homes. It will take forever to heal. They created a generation of terrorists for there is nothing to live for. They destroyed everything beautiful about Syria. Radical Islamists and the regime get all of the support for nothing is being done to help the Syrian refugees. It is pathetic for the US, who has a lot of influence to promote democracy and freedom, only accepted 1,500 people over the course of four years. Either you help them live in that area or open the borders. They don’t help the refugees and it becomes a nightmare.”

Abbas believes that given the atrocities ISIS has committed, they are “worse than cancer, cannot be distinguished from Nazis, and maybe even worse. When you look at the statistics, in a short period of time, ISIS killed and displaced a major part of Middle Eastern society and if they had the opportunity, they would wipe out nations. This destruction is what they want. What makes me wonder is that during the Bush era, the US saw Al Qaeda as a threat and went after them. Now, Al Qaeda linked groups are sitting there under Obama. Why? If you have troops on the ground willing to finish off ISIS and you are not helping them, why?”

“The legacy of the Obama administration is more radical groups that make Al Qaeda look moderate and a lack of action by not helping,” Abbas stressed. “They are helping ISIS in a way by accidently dropping weapons, training the wrong people that lead to weapons reaching ISIS, and by helping the Iraqi Army and not the Kurds directly. The US Secretary of Defense stated that they are directly arming the Kurds. He is not telling the truth. No Kurds from Syria and Iraq received aid directly from the US. The Iraqi government is under the control of Iran. Turkey is after the Kurds, the same people trying to finish off ISIS. They need to help us and work with us. The consequences could be a major problem for them as well. Keeping it this way will only make things worse. The Kurds, Christians and Druze are the losers. We are paying the price and the world is watching. Assad must be finished.”

In conclusion, Abbas asked the Israeli leadership to consider whether they want the Kurds and Druze to be their neighbors or whether they want Iranian/Al Qaeda linked terror groups like ISIS to be on their borders: “Are they happy having the Druze finished? If not, they need to do something. Israel needs to think about this. This is an opportunity and the time to help the Syrian people get rid of the terrorists but nobody in the international community helps them. This is a disaster. They used chemical weapons on the Kurds. These guys are going to use cyber, chemical and all kinds of weapons. These people are starting to gain momentum and we must finish them. If Israel waits to take a move, there will be nobody to help them within Syria.”

According to Abbas, many Arab countries are very angry with the Obama administration over the Iran deal that empowers the radicals, for not acting upon their own red lines against the Assad regime, and for not keeping their word. Given this, he claimed that Israel has a golden opportunity to reduce radical Islamism within Syria, to create a major blow for Iran, and to build bridges for peace by helping the right groups within the country: “Day after day when the world is not helping, these people give up, get killed, or join the winners, which is ISIS. People become helpless and give up. ISIS and Iran within Syria will be a major problem for Israel so now is the time to prevent Iran from benefiting by directly working with the Kurds. Stop crying about the Iran deal. Obama will support the radicals till the bitter end. Instead, prevent them from having further gains by putting pressure upon Syria because Iran is a snake. You need to crush that head and the defeat of Iran will lead to them collapsing from within. Many Arabs will help for they don’t trust the US.”