Turkish-backed forces continue targeting Arab tribal leaders who cooperate with the SDF

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish-backed forces in Syria released Ibrahim al-Issa, Sheikh of the Al-Hanadi clan, on Sunday, after he had been detained for at least one week.

Activist Muthanna Ali told the Syrian Zaman Al Wasl news site that the Turkish-backed Free Police in Tel Abyad arrested Issa at his house in the southern countryside last week, and he was then transferred to the counterterrorism base in the Al-Iskan neighborhood.

Subsequently, Issa appeared in a video released on social media, with a Turkish flag behind him. “After coming from Raqqa and leaving my house, I visited official institutions in the liberated areas,” he said in the video.

“I was respected and appreciated in a good manner by the Turkish brothers and those in charge of the works,” the video continued. “I have been respected, and I have not been subjected to anything [ill treatment]. I am heading back to the village of Qaisariyah. I thank everyone in the Tal Abyad area.”

Issa has been supportive of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and participated in meetings of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political counterpart of the SDF.

In interviews with local media, Issa strongly criticized Turkey’s repeated military interventions in Syria. In January 2019, he told the pro-Kurdish Hawar News Agency that tribal leaders in Turkey do not represent the Arab tribes in the region.

“The tribal elders and sheikhs here are active with the Democratic Autonomous Administration,” he said, “and no one from abroad can decide their fate, because they are the owners of the land.”

Issa also denounced the “occupation that took place in Jarabulus, Azaz, al-Rai, and Afrin” and the “killing and looting” in those areas.

This is not the first time a tribal leader has been arrested by pro-Turkish groups for their relations with the SDF.

In April, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the Al-Nu’aym tribal leader, Ahmad al-Sheikh al-A’nizan, was arrested in Tal Abyad for 24 hours on April 22 for allegedly dealing with the SDF.

The Arab-majority sub-district of Tal Abyad, which is part of the Raqqa governorate, has been under the control of Turkey and Turkish-backed groups since Ankara’s military operation in October 2019, which pushed the SDF from the area.

Turkey has previously attempted to legitimatize its operation in Tal Abyad, by claiming that the town is majority Arab and that the Kurdish-led forces carried out human rights violations, such as ethnic cleansing against the Arab population, a charge that Kurdish fighters vehemently deny.

However, Turkish-backed groups are now accused of committing human rights violations against the residents of Tal Abyad.

In April, the Turkish-backed Sultan Suleyman Shah brigade confiscated an agricultural harvester from an Arab family in northern Syria.

According to a report of Syrians for Truth and Justice, published on Monday, Turkish-backed groups have looted 12 grain silos from Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain.

Locals in Tal Abyad have protested against arbitrary arrests and the deteriorating living conditions in their town.

The local Smart News Agency reported that there were widespread protests in Tal Abyad on Jan. 3 and then on June 5, demanding the release of civilians arrested by Turkish-backed factions. In early June, at least 35 civilians were arrested in two villages of Tal Abyad on charges of dealing with the SDF, a SOHR report said.

According to the activist group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, protests took place on Sunday in Tal Abyad against the “deteriorating living conditions in the city and the increase in the price of bread.”

“These human rights abuses also happened in Afrin earlier. The difference is that Afrin was majority Kurdish,” Bassam al-Ahmad, the executive director of Syrians for Truth and Justice, told Kurdistan 24.

However, Ahmad said that the situation in the Arab-majority district of Tal Abyad is different from Afrin and Ras al-Ain, as Kurds have been targeted in those areas

“They target Arabs on different charges,” Ahmad explained. “They are being accused of links with the former self-administration.”

“They have transferred a lot of people from this area to Turkey, a lot of them are Arabs, and they appear in front of Turkish courts,” Ahmad continued. “So there are documented cases.”

Editing by Laurie Mylroie