US reaffirms that UN-mandated Syrian ceasefire includes Afrin

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert reaffirmed on Thursday that the Kurdish enclave of Afrin is properly part of the ceasefire in Syria—as mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 2401, which the Council unanimously approved on Saturday.

That was the same position that Nauert laid out on Tuesday, advising Ankara to “read this resolution.” The significance of its repetition is that it follows two days of criticism from Ankara.

On Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement, asserting, “The comments made by the US State Department Spokesperson regarding the UN Security Council’s resolution, saying Turkey should ‘read it more closely,’ have no basis.”

On Thursday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman, Bekir Bozdag, spoke similarly, as he affirmed that the UN resolution “doesn’t apply” to Turkey’s offensive on Afrin.

“Our interpretation is clear,” Bozdag said, adding, “It would be useful” for the US to read the resolution more carefully.

Asked by Kurdistan 24 to respond to the Turkish criticisms, Nauert reaffirmed the US’ position and read, again, the key section of Resolution 2401.

It “affirms that the cessation of hostilities shall not apply to military operations against [IS], al Qaeda, al Nusra Front and other individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with al Qaeda, [IS], and other terrorist groups, as designated by the Security Council,” Nauert stated,

France, Germany, and Russia have all taken the same position: the UN’s call for a ceasefire in Syria applies to Afrin.

The Kurdish Red Crescent recently reported that as of February 21, the indiscriminate Turkish shelling of Afrin had killed 93 civilians.

Nauert also spoke strongly against Russian policy in Syria, endorsing the description expressed by CENTCOM Commander General Joseph Votel in congressional testimony earlier this week.

“Moscow is playing the role of arsonist and firefighter – fueling the conflict in Syria between the Syrian Regime, YPG [the Kurdish People’s Protection Units], and Turkey, then claiming to serve as an arbiter to resolve the dispute,” Votel’s written statement explains.

Simultaneously playing arsonist and fireman is an old tactic, long used by Middle Eastern regimes, like that of the Assads in Syria: Bashar and before him, his father, Hafiz. The maneuver provides leverage: carrots and sticks.

UN Resolution 2401 calls for a 30-day ceasefire in all of Syria, as Nauert has repeatedly affirmed. Instead, Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured a five hour, daily cease-fire in a “humanitarian corridor,” leading out from the besieged Damascus suburb of East Ghouta.

Nauert called the corridor “a joke.” It is “a narrow little banner” that people are not even using. They are “afraid,” she said, because there are no guarantees for their safety.

Raed Salah, head of the “White Helmets,” a Syrian civil defense organization that operates in rebel-held areas and which was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for its dangerous work, spoke to journalists at the State Department.

Saleh concurred in Nauert’s assessment of why the “humanitarian corridor” was not being used, but he added another key point: Some 350,000 people are living in East Ghouta. It is their home and has been the home of their families for centuries.

A chief aim of this approach—embraced by Syria, Russia, and Iran, which is allied to both—is sectarian cleansing. The objective is to remove Sunnis from a strategic neighborhood and replace them with Shias.

Entifadh Qanbar, an Iraqi-American and President of the Future Foundation in Washington, explained to Kurdistan 24 that Iran has been doing something similar in Iraq.

Tehran began its sectarian cleansing in Iraq some years ago, when Sunni towns and villages adjacent to the Iranian border in the Governorate of Diyala were evacuated by Shia militias loyal to Iran to form a buffer zone.

Tehran is now exploiting the massive displacement of populations caused by the fight against IS in order to replace Sunnis with Shias in strategic, sensitive areas. That is one reason why such a large number of Iraq’s displaced Sunni Arab population remains in camps, Qanbar said.

Editing by Nadia Riva