US officials explain sanctions relaxation in northeast, northwest Syria

Laurie Mylroie 2022/05/15 13:16

US troops and their SDF allies in northeast Syria (Photo: SDF’s Coordination and Military Operations Center)

World SDF AANES northeast Syria Mazloum Abdi Sanctions

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – In a telephone briefing with journalists on Friday, US officials outlined the new economic regulations Washington is applying in northeast and northwest Syria in areas outside of the regime’s control, which will significantly relax US sanctions in order to encourage economic growth.

Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi welcomed the US announcement in a tweet.

“We appreciate the US General License for #AANES areas to rebuild infrastructure and support our economy, a step that will counter ISIS and give hope to all Syrians,” Abdi said. “We welcome all companies to invest here.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, denounced the change, even though areas of Syria that are controlled by Turkish-backed rebels will also enjoy the relaxed sanctions regulations.

The US announcement followed a Foreign Minister’s meeting of the 85-member Defeat-ISIS Coalition on May 11 in Marrakesh, Morocco, and a May 12 meeting on Syria in Brussels, Belgium, which included the Arab League, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, in addition to the US, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

In Friday’s briefing, Kurdistan 24 asked whether the Arab countries that attended the Brussels conference on Syria supported the new US position that would relax sanctions on areas of Syria not under the regime’s control.

The answer was essentially yes. The US does have the support of its Arab allies, and this issue has, in fact, been under discussion for some months.

“We consulted extensively with our key allies and partners,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Syria and the Levant Ethan Goldrich replied, suggesting that the US had raised the issue already last December in a meeting in Brussels and then several times thereafter.

“We have kept meeting participants informed that we have a general license” to allow economic investments “that was in preparation and eventually being issued,” Goldrich said. “We have been keeping partners and allies informed on this.”

US Explanation of New Economic Regulations for Northeast, Northwest Syria

A Treasury Department statement released on Thursday listed the ten fields of economic activity in northeast and northwest Syria that are no longer subject to sanctions: 1) agriculture; 2) information and telecommunications; 3) power grid infrastructure; 4) construction; 5) finance; 6) clean energy; 7; transportation and warehousing; 8) water and waste management; 9) health services; 10) education; 11) manufacturing; 12) trade.

“The new authorization,” Goldrich said, “supports the Biden administration’s strategy to defeat ISIS by promoting economic stabilization in areas liberated from the terrorist group’s control.”

The US seeks to counter ISIS, he continued, “by mitigating economic insecurity and restoring essential services in areas” from which it has been expelled.

“The general license is designed to improve the economic conditions in non-regime-held areas of northeast and northwest Syria in support of ongoing US-led D-ISIS [Defeat-ISIS] stabilization efforts,” is how Goldrich summarized the latest US move.