Dr. Gabriel Oussi recently visited Syria and happened to arrive Qameshli when fierce fighting raged between Kurdish and Arab militias. The Assyrian self-defense force Sootoro / GPF remained outside of the fighting.
But the Assyrian group Dawronoye who take direct orders from the Kurdish YPG, constitute a potential risk of civil war between the two armed Assyrian groups, says Oussi.
He believes that the Kurds run their own projects both in Syria and Iraq and have no interest in a pluralistic society, which includes various ethnic groups. That is something the Barzani-regime in KRG demonstrated quite clearly. Therefore Dawronoye needs to reconsider its unreserved support to the Kurdish PYD and learn from the experience of the KRG.
Assyrians properties have been confiscated by the KRG and the PYD and are being expelled from their homelands.
Our goal is to strive for a unified and pluralistic Syria. The Assyrians are not only living in the areas that the Kurds have claims on, they also live in other parts of the country.
Regarding Assyrians of Qamishli, they need both material and moral support from the Assyrian Diaspora, because they want to stay and defend their own country. Sootoro / GPF is, for example, in need of medical supplies for first aid and an ambulance. Children need stimulation to break the suffering of only sitting at home. A guarded playground can be one such initiative, says Oussi hoping that the war will soon enter a phase of political solutions. Then the hope for a future will begin to sprout again. Right now, there is considerable war fatigue and it may pave the way for a political solution and the disarmament of the various militias.