Who is SNA?
The Syrian Free Army, the initial main oppositional military force at the outstart of the Syrian revolution has not existed under a central command since 2015 and slowly lost power. Turkey took the lead, reassembled forces under the name Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA) later calling itself Syrian National Army, carrying the same flag as the SFA. The SNA in its current form was founded in 2017 largely out of Turkmen factions and has grown into a conglomerate of over 30 militias, including former FSA-militias. The SNA claims to be the main opposition to the Assad regime, also having set up a political arm, the “Syrian Interim Government’.

SNA forces have been acting largely as a proxy force for Turkish interests, expansionism and its fight against the Kurdish Freedom Movement. The SNA has joined Turkish military operations in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 (see image above) occupying Afrin, areas in the Afrin-Sexba canton, Gire Spi and Serekaniye. The SNA is mostly funded, trained and equipped by Turkey. HTS and SNA are officially operating militarily together since 2019.

SDF statement about the current attacks against our forces around Aleppo and Shehba

This week has witnessed a large-scale attack and substantial shifts have happened. Damascus government forces have deteriorated in Aleppo and other regions. It is no doubt that this attack is orchestrated by the Turkish occupation state, with the ultimate goal of occupying the entire Syrian territory. However, the primary target of this attack remains the areas under the Autonomous Administration to prevent the peaceful coexistence of the region’s diverse peoples, including Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, and other communities. The Autonomous Administration’s regions are facing a large-scale attack, with a particular focus on the areas of Al-Shahba’a and Aleppo. This constitutes a grave threat to the survival of our people.
This critical moment represents a historic turning point for all Syrians, especially those residing in the Democratic Autonomous Administration. The sole objective of this attack is to our safe areas and ultimately occupy Syrian territory. The aggressor seeks to inflict suffering upon all the region’s peoples.
For several days, our brave fighters have been fiercely resisting the ongoing attacks on the Manbij front and west of the Euphrates.
Our Syrian Democratic Forces have consistently fulfilled their duty to liberate and protect the region. We reaffirm our commitment to these historical responsibilities, regardless of the cost. We will stand firm against these attacks and fulfill our historic duty to safeguard the region and its people. There should be no doubt about our resolve. We urge everyone to heed the call for public mobilization and to coordinate closely with the SDF and Internal Security Forces. It is imperative that we stand united in these challenging times.
In these historic days, we call upon our people to join forces in the defense of their villages, cities, and the entire region. We must participate in the people’s revolutionary war and fulfill our duty to protect our homeland. We call upon the youth of the region, including Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Assyrians, Armenians, and Circassians, to fulfill their historical role by joining the resistance fronts and enlisting in the ranks of the SDF, YPG, and YPJ.
The current war is a noble struggle for humanity and human dignity. It is a war to protect the values of freedom and civilization against the obscurantist ideologies of ISIS and Erdogan. This is a war for light and liberation, a war that guarantees a future of coexistence and brotherhood among peoples.
We urge the young men and women of the region to join the SDF and contribute to building a free future. We are confident that with the active participation of our youth, we can repel this attack and thwart the plans of the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries.

SDF General Command
December 1, 2024

https://sdf-press.com/en/2024/12/statement-on-recent-developments-in-syria/

This aggression aims to occupy and divide Syria, turning it into a hotbed of international terrorism, the offensive that began in Aleppo and Hama is not limited to a specific area, but threatens all of Syria.

Therefore, we call on all components of our people in the NE Syria to realize that one of the goals of this aggression is to destroy the hopes of Syrians to live in freedom and dignity, target the project of democratic Autonomous Administration, and try to annex new territories to Turkey.

We, Arabs, Kurds, Syriacs, Assyrians and Turkmen, must join hands and strengthen our unity to confront this blatant aggression, and we call on our young men and women to rally around the Syrian Democratic Forces.

We announce the phase of general mobilization and call on our people to be on constant alert.

All our institutions must be on the job, on full alert, and each institution must act as a crisis cell to face the challenges resulting from this aggression.

We appeal to the international community to stop this aggression, which will cause major humanitarian disasters, as it represents a threat to Syria, a new form of Daesh terrorism that will have serious regional and global repercussions."

1st December 2024

https://hawarnews.com/en/democratic-autonomous-administration-declares-stage-of-general-mobilization

Commenting on the attacks in Syria, specifically in the Canton of Afrin and Shahba, and Aleppo, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the NE Syria made a statement to public opinion, in its center in the city of Raqqa, read by the co-presidency of the Autonomous Administration.

"At the outset, we strongly condemn the attack launched by the Turkish state and its mercenaries on Syrian territory, and we salute the historical resistance shown by our people in Aleppo and Shahba.

This attack, led by the Turkish state, represents a continuation of the plan that Turkey failed to achieve through ISIS, and its goal is to occupy Syria and achieve the limits of the "Misak i-Milli pact" that the Turkish state has repeatedly sought to implement.

Statement by Our SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazlum Abdi Regarding the Recent Developments in Northwestern Syria

The situation in northwest Syria has developed rapidly and suddenly, with our forces facing intense attacks from multiple fronts. Following the collapse and withdrawal of the Syrian Army and its allies, we intervened to establish a humanitarian corridor between our eastern regions, Aleppo, and the Tal Rifaat area, with the aim of protecting our people from potential massacres.
However, the attacks of the armed groups backed by the Turkish occupation have disrupted this corridor.
Our forces have valiantly defended our people in Aleppo, Tal Rifa’at, and al-Shahba’a.
We are actively coordinating with all relevant parties in Syria to ensure the safety of our people and facilitate their secure relocation from the Tal Rifa’at and Shahba’a areas to our safe areas in the northeast of the country.
Concurrently, our forces continue to resist to protect our people residing in the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo.

Besides these attacks, Turkish mercenaries yesterday also bombed Tel Temir (further in the East of AANES) power station which is now out of order. Turkey has targeted a car on the road between Heseke and Qamishlo with drone, by which one SDF fighter was martyred.

Meanwhile the people’s protection units and the population of the Kurdish-dominated neighbourhoods of Aleppo have refused to leave and are preparing themselves for attacks. Previous false information was spread that they were leaving Aleppo. Aleppo, as stated previously, is for some days now largely in the hands of HTS, a jihadist militia that has strong ties to Turkey’s mercenary army’s, however cannot simply be seen as a proxy. HTS is running de facto Islamic state in the regions under its controls.

SDF and AANES have both released statements raising awarenes of the possibility for massacres, occupation, the crushing of people’s aspirations and humanitarian crisis. Both statements highlight the role of Turkey behind the attack and the aim of Turkey to occupy more land in Syria, in line with its expansionist “ "Misak i-Milli pact". Since yesterday, Turkish mercenaries have solely been attacking SDF positions (not regime or Iran-backed militias), showing that the aim is to attack the Rojava revolution in-line wth Turkey’s long-standing fascist agenda against Kurdish aspirations and the freedom movement. Several institutions have reassured their promise to defend our soil and our people and call on a general mobilisation and especially the youth to join the ranks of SDF, YPG and YPJ forces.

New #YPJ statement
📍condemning the attacks on our people
📍vowing to avenge captured female fighters of the 'Defense Forces of Sheikh Maqsud & Eshrafiyeh'
📍calling for women to join their ranks & international women's organisatons to expose true agenda of Turkey and militias

Statement by the YPJ General Command

"For days, our regions and Syria as a whole have been subjected to widespread, multi-faceted attacks. The Syrian people, especially in Aleppo, have been left face-to-face with a grave risk of extermination. Simultaneously, these attacks have targeted our regions in North and East Syria. Over the past days, an unparalleled resistance has been demonstrated against these assaults, with our people, particularly women, showing exceptional resilience, especially in the Shahba and Aleppo regions.

The people of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in Aleppo have significant experience in fighting and resistance over the years. To confront these attacks, they reorganized themselves under the name Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh Protection Forces and repelled numerous assaults by the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation state.

Undoubtedly, this multi-faceted war is raging fiercely. As a result, several young men and women from the Sheikh Maqsoud Protection Forces were injured and captured by the mercenaries. These mercenaries, who lack any sense of ethics or war laws, have grossly humiliated the dignity of the captured young women, using it as a means of propaganda in their media to promote themselves. With statements like 'We will sell you again in the markets,' they revealed their stance towards women. These acts are anti-humanity and must not be tolerated under any circumstances.

We, in the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), strongly condemn the barbaric practices of the Turkish occupation's mercenaries against the captured young women. We declare that we will avenge them. At the same time, we call on women's and human rights institutions to adopt the cause of the captured young women who were defending their neighborhoods and city. We firmly reiterate the necessity of protecting their rights as captives.

The practices of the Turkish occupation’s mercenaries against these captured young women today are the same as those committed by ISIS in 2014 against thousands of women in Shengal, Mosul, and Raqqa by selling them in slave markets. Undoubtedly, these actions reflect the patriarchal mentality, which reached its peak in the person of ISIS and Erdogan’s mercenaries. They know well the legendary resistance Kurdish women have shown against such brutal practices, resisting to the very end. Through these inhumane actions, they express the extent of their hostility towards women.

Thus, we call on the International Red Cross, Amnesty International, all women's rights protection organizations, civil society institutions, democratic figures, and freedom advocates to adopt the cause of the captured young women, expose the reality of the terrorism and brutality of the Turkish occupation state and its mercenaries at both the Middle Eastern and global levels, and hold them accountable for their actions. We hold the Turkish state responsible for what is happening to the captured young women.

Once again, we, in the Women's Protection Units, condemn the captivity of the young women fighters of the Sheikh Maqsoud Protection Forces. We declare that we will hold the Turkish occupation state and its mercenaries accountable on the battlefronts. During these historic days, as our regions and Syria as a whole face widespread attacks, we will continue to work in the trenches of resistance to protect women and our people. We also call on young women everywhere to join the ranks of resistance in their regions and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ). Only in this way can we protect ourselves and our land."

2.12.2024 YPJ General Command

Statement by the SDC for the Public Opinion

The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) strongly condemns the resurgence of violence in Syria. It expresses deep concern over the overall developments in the country, including the takeover of Aleppo city and the countryside of Hama by Turkish-backed armed groups without resistance.

The SDC condemns the threats faced by Syrian civilians across the country. Also, it calls on the international community to take immediate and effective action to halt the escalating violence in northwestern Syria. It urges the exertion of maximum pressure on all conflicting parties to cease fire. The goal is to engage in comprehensive new peace talks that represent the Syrian people and their aspirations. These talks should include the participation of all relevant Syrian parties without exclusion.

The SDC holds the Syrian regime accountable for the ongoing crisis in the country, blaming it for rejecting all initiatives aimed at preventing a humanitarian disaster in Syria. Furthermore, it directly holds the Turkish occupation accountable for the recent escalation of violence in northwestern Syria.
Additionally, it expresses deep concern over the dire humanitarian situation faced by the displaced people from al-Shahbaa region. Moreover, it calls upon the United Nations and the UN Security Council to intervene immediately. It urges the international community to take swift action to protect all Syrian civilians from the imminent threat posed by Turkish-backed groups, which have previously committed war crimes, genocide, and forced displacement.

The SDC warns of the dangers of the Islamic State ISIS) exploiting the recent escalation in northwestern Syria. In addition, it calls on the US-led Global Coalition to strengthen its support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their fight against ISIS. Consequently, it expresses serious concerns regarding the anxieties of Iraqi people, and emphasizes the need for cooperation between Iraqi forces and the SDF, in coordination with the Global Coalition, to enhance the fight against terrorism.

On the other hand, the SDC affirms the importance of the Russian Federation's role in supporting a comprehensive political solution. At the same time, it reiterates its openness to engage in dialogue with Turkey, rejecting all pretexts used to justify further occupation of Syrian territory.

Therefore, under these critical circumstances, the SDC assures these matters for the Syrian people as follows:

1-The continuation of conflicts among Syrian parties only serves the enemies of the Syrian people and exacerbates the suffering of civilians. Therefore, the SDC calls for prioritizing engaging in the national dialogue over the use of force.

2- The SDC calls for an end to all violations targeting specific components of the Syrian society. Also, it reaffirms that Kurds and other national and religious minorities are an integral part of Syria's history and people.

3- The Syrian crisis can only be resolved through a just political solution that guarantees the rights of all Syrians and achieves justice, freedom, and equality. This solution should be free from any external interference or attempts to impose a new reality by force.

In conclusion, Syrian national dialogue is the sole pathway to resolving the Syrian crisis experienced by the Syrian people as a whole. The SDC is open to dialogue with all Syrians to strengthen Syria's unity, security, and sovereignty. It also appeals to all patriotic Syrians in all regions of Syria to resist incitement, revenge, and malicious propaganda. It also emphasizes the importance of adhering to the political solution that is in line with UN Resolution 2254, which ensures a democratic transition. This transition should strengthen Syria's unity and sovereignty, within the framework of a decentralized democratic political regime that meets the aspirations of all Syrians.

Syrian Democratic Council
December 2, 2024