海角大神

Hamid Khalaf knows all too well that his sister,聽a Kurdish politician in northern Syria,聽was killed in cold blood.

The video footage taken聽just聽moments before聽she was executed by聽Turkish-backed militiamen聽has been widely circulated.聽Thirteen seconds into the video,聽you hear the voice of Hafrin Khalaf identifying herself as a political party leader.

A medical report captures the brutality of what ensued: She was shot multiple times and dragged聽violently聽by the hair.

For the agony that his sister experienced, Mr. Khalaf,聽a resident of Switzerland for a dozen years,聽blames the president of the United States and his abrupt decision to pull out of Syria.

鈥淭he United States is responsible for what is happening in northeast Syria,鈥� he says, sitting in the living room of his apartment in Bern. 鈥淎merica is specifically responsible for the death of my sister because the decision to withdraw U.S. troops cleared the path for Turkey to strike Syria. ... The betrayal came from Trump.鈥�

Mr. Khalaf,聽whose sense of stinging betrayal is widely shared among Syrian Kurds,聽was referring to the fateful Oct. 6 phone call between聽President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip聽Erdo臒an.

Three days later, Turkey attacked the very Kurdish fighters that the United States聽and its allies聽had relied on to聽defeat the Islamic State聽militarily on the ground in northern Syria. Turkey鈥檚 so-called 鈥淥peration Peace Spring鈥� 鈥� preparations for which had begun months earlier 鈥� aims to clear northern Syria of Kurdish fighters that Ankara sees as inextricably linked to its own Kurdish insurgency.

Abandoned by the United States and outgunned by Turkey, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to hand over key border towns to聽Syrian forces loyal to the government in聽Damascus, finding common cause in fending off Turkish aggression.

The deal was brokered by Russia, a consistent military and diplomatic backer of聽Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has managed to outlast a cataclysmic聽civil聽war. In a flash, the map of war-torn Syria was redrawn and reimagined by all of the conflict鈥檚 parties, leaving the Kurds in limbo.

鈥淭here isn鈥檛 a deal with Damascus but an understanding based on the need of border protection and fight against Turkish invasion,鈥� Mazloum Abdi, the commander in chief of the SDF, said in a statement Wednesday. 鈥淭his is solely a military move.鈥�

鈥楤etrayal in legal attire鈥�

Facing blowback at home and abroad amid reports of war crimes 鈥� including the killing of Ms. Khalaf 鈥� and prison breaks by ISIS, the White House聽slapped economic sanctions on Turkey.

Then, on Oct. 17,聽Vice President Mike Pence negotiated what he called a 鈥渃ease-fire鈥� agreement. Ankara presented it instead as a 鈥減ause in operations鈥� so that Kurdish fighters could withdraw from an area more than聽250 miles聽long and some聽20 miles聽deep.

Before the U.S.聽pullout,聽Kurdish forces considered terrorists by Turkey聽controlled nearly a third of inhabited Syria. There聽the Kurds enjoyed an unprecedented degree of self-governance and the unique opportunity to exercise cultural rights long denied by the Assad regime.

These Kurdish-held territories were relatively safe, a base for Western soldiers聽and聽hundreds of international humanitarian workers, and an entry point for foreign journalists. Kurds were also the gatekeepers of prisons holdings Iraqi, Syrian, and foreign fighters linked to聽ISIS.

鈥淭he cease-fire deal is betrayal in legal attire,鈥� says Mr. Khalaf,聽who maintains the high-rise in which he lives.聽鈥淎merica stabbed the Kurdish people in the back, the Kurdish people who lost 11,000 fighters on the front lines against the Islamic State in defense of democracy, freedom, equality, and humanity 鈥� in defense of all the people of the world.

鈥淭he Kurds were stabbed by the hand of Trump,鈥澛爃e adds amid tears for his slain sister.聽鈥淭urkey was the dagger.鈥�

At a cabinet meeting Monday, Mr. Trump again defended his withdrawal decision. 鈥淲e helped the Kurds,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we never gave the Kurds a commitment that we鈥檇 stay for the next 400 years and protect them.鈥�

The five-day truce, meanwhile, has not been perfect. The terms of the agreement 鈥� which includes the lifting of sanctions 鈥� are widely seen聽among Kurds聽as a聽U.S.聽capitulation to Turkey.聽Mr. Trump celebrated it as the 鈥渄eal of the century,鈥� although it includes no lasting concessions from Ankara.

Ethnic cleansing?

Central to the agreement was the establishment of a demilitarized area along the Syrian border with Turkey. Such a safe zone would meet a long-running聽Turkish聽strategic goal聽and include聽areas where the Kurds had established self-rule.

It would also give Turkey an area to resettle up to 2 million Syrian refugees and alter demographic dynamics in the region. There are聽at least 12 divided cities along the border between Turkey and Syria, including Kobane, where Kurds bravely fought off an ISIS onslaught with the help of聽U.S.聽air power.聽The battle five years ago proved to be a turning point in halting the expansion of ISIS territory across northern Iraq and Syria.

Over the past two weeks,聽some 300,000 people have been displaced,聽according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

鈥淓ncouraging the ongoing genocide campaign is by far the greatest insult to our people so far,鈥� said Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the SDF, in a Twitter message tagging Mr. Trump. 鈥淲ith all due respect, Mr. President, what makes you think you have the right to drive millions of Kurds out of their homes and resettle them elsewhere? Isn鈥檛 this ethnic cleansing?鈥�

Kurdish forces pulled out of the flashpoint border town of Ras al-Ayn on Sunday, the first withdrawal since the so-called cease-fire. Civilians fled alongside these forces, reportedly fearful of what Turkish-backed militias 鈥� which are notorious for the inclusion of former ISIS, Al Qaeda, and criminal elements 鈥� would do.

Gruesome execution videos have been linked to advancing Islamist militias backed by Turkey. The Turkish-led takeover of Afrin, a Kurdish enclave, was marred by looting and killing last year.

Mr.聽Erdo臒an聽vowed聽Saturday聽to crush 鈥淜urdish fighters鈥� if the 13-point deal is not fully implemented. Both sides have traded blame for violations. A Turkish soldier was killed聽Sunday. More than 200 civilians, including 18 children, have been killed since the start of the offensive, according to Kurdish health authorities.

Lost dream of Rojava

鈥淭he United States betrayed the blood of my son and his fellow martyrs,鈥� says Aisha Hussein, a native of Hassakeh聽interviewed聽in Qamishli,聽whose son died fighting ISIS. 鈥淭hey promised them protection and left them to their fate.

鈥淩ojava is now in existential danger,鈥澛爏he says, using the Kurds鈥� name for their ancestral territories in Syria, which Arabs also claim. 鈥淭he Turks and their loyalists may come聽to聽slay us. ... They will destroy Rojava over us if they can. The聽[Syrian]聽regime doesn鈥檛 want to grant us any rights, but we are forced to ally with it to protect ourselves.鈥�

The Syrian flag already flies in parts of the city of Qamishli 鈥� including in 海角大神 pockets, the Syrian-army controlled 鈥渟ecurity square,鈥� the court, and the airport. Residents say more聽flags聽have gone up in recent days but that checkpoints remain in the hands of the Syrian Democratic Forces. Arabs and Kurds, both for and against the regime, have made聽the聽city home. Tensions are high.

In public, people curse聽the United States. They know that the days of Rojava聽are all but over.

鈥淚 will stay in Rojava,鈥� says Ali Saadu, a middle-aged trader. 鈥淭he only way out for me is the grave. This is our land, and I will not leave it for anyone to take.鈥�

Hoshank Hadi, a student at Rojava University, clings to the hope that all the sacrifices have not been in vain. 鈥淚 do not think the Kurds will face the same oppression and injustice they did before 2011聽[when protests against Assad started],鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey [the regime] will be open to the Kurdish language, give us more聽rights. Siding with Russia and the regime will end the possibility of war and we will make some gains, although maybe not in the way that we want or the way that we have now.鈥�

Ahmed, an employee with Syria鈥檚 Kurdish autonomous administration in Qamishli who declined to give his last name for security reasons, says he prefers the Syrian regime to Turkey but won鈥檛 be taking any chances. He will go to northern Iraq, where Kurds have a stronger grip over their autonomous region.

鈥淚 would like to stay, but I am afraid that I will be conscripted into the Syrian army and have to participate in wars that I do not believe in,鈥� he says.

Hints that Mr. Trump could backpedal yet again and leave special forces in northeast Syria reassure no one. The key question now聽is what will come of Mr. Erdo臒an鈥檚 meeting with聽Russian President Vladimir Putin in聽Sochi聽Tuesday.

鈥淲e were wrong when we trusted America,鈥� says Ahmed. 鈥淚ts history is full of betrayal. They deceived us, and we will never trust them again.鈥�

Alan Hasan contributed from Qamishli, Syria.