Syriac Union Party Co-Chair Sanharib Barsoum to SuroyoTV: North and East Syria is not Afghanistan, local administration predates US presence

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA — In an interview with SuroyoTV, Co-Chair of the Syriac Union Party (SUP) Sanharib Barsoum discussed the presence of the U.S. forces in Syria following the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“The situation in Afghanistan is not like the situation in the regions of North and East Syria, and the U.S. forces are scheduled to remain in our regions until at least 2024,” he stated.

“The U.S. in Afghanistan was the primary decision-maker, but in North and East Syria, there is the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which predate the U.S. presence in the country and whose legitimacy stems from the will of the people,” he proclaimed, adding that the Syrian people are the ones who decide their fate, not other countries in Syria.

Regarding the situation of the Syriac (Aramean—Assyrian—Chaldean) component within the DAA regions, Barsoum explained that, “In some aspects, our Syriac people are well represented, but in other aspects our Syriac representation is incomplete.” Work remains to be done in the DAA to ensure full and equal representation of all peoples in North and East Syria.