Many analysts talk about the #SDF. I conducted the first field survey of the SDF in all 6 provinces of NE #Syria to allow their own voices to be heard.
Here are some of my findings:
scribd.com/document/42912…
The SDF is often talked about as a Kurdish force.
In reality it is a multi-ethnic force that consists of #Kurds, #Arabs, #Christians, #Yezidis and #Turkmen.
If Erdogan invades Syria in his quest to destroy the Kurds, does he realize he will be attacking an Arab-majority force?
Some analysts have criticized the #SDF for not including Arabs. My survey shows that Arab participants identified as belonging to 46 different tribes or clans. The SDF has incorporated Arabs from virtually all of the major & minor tribes in Syria. See page 12 of my report.
The #SDF includes tribes who in the past took part in the
suppression of #Kurds. This includes those who aided the Syrian regime in crushing the Kurdish uprising in 2004, and
who helped create the Arab belt that fragmented the Kurdish region in northern #Syria known as #Rojava.
Watch this video of an Arab woman from Hasakah who is a member of the #SDF #YPJ. I met her in March.
She implores the US-led Coalition to remain in Syria.
Today there were unconfirmed reports Turkey carried out strikes in Hasakah.
These are the people Trump wants to abandon.
And here is Helin. She is a Turkmen member of the #SDF #YPJ.
Guess what?
She too is opposed to a Turkish invasion in #Syria.
If, God forbid, Turkmen in the SDF are killed by the Turkish intervention, what will Erdogan say? Claim it as a victory over the #PKK?
The vast majority of respondents (92.5 percent) want the US-led Coalition to stay in Syria. Only 7.5% are in favor of withdrawal.
The #SDF has an overwhelmingly positive view of the US-led Coalition: 85.4% of respondents rated the cooperation between the SDF & the US-led Coalition as “good” or “very good.” I conducted the survey in February, March, July. Trump's announcement today may have changed this.
An open-ended question on the survey in July asked what the #SDF considers the biggest threat to the region.
#Turkey was ranked as the biggest threat to the region - ahead of #ISIS or #Iran or Assad.
68.7% of respondents were Arabs. Not only #Kurds see Turkey as a threat.
The #SDF has recruited men and women from all regions of NE #Syria.
Some have even joined who live in areas under the control of the regime in southern Syria, such as Homs and Damascus.
This would seem to indicate that the SDF has some appeal even in areas it doesn't control.
60% of respondents believe it is not possible to find a solution to the Syrian crisis while Bashar Al-Assad is in power, while 40% believe a solution could be found while he remains in power.
The fact that the #SDF talks to Damascus does not = support for the regime.
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