Paris Match. You recently spoke of a “new political reality in Syria”. Can you explain it to us?
Mazloum Abdi. The fall of Bashar al-Assad and his regime marked the end of Iranian and Russian influence in Syria. On the ground, there are now the Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), the Hayet Tahrir el-Sham (HTC) group and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) which is supported by Turkey.
What does this change for you?
The Turks have a free hand and want to extend their influence in Syria.
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For more than a week, you have suffered offensives from pro-Turkish FSA militias. How is the morale of the troops?
There have been fierce battles, but morale is very good because our men are fighting for a cause, not for anything else. We face difficulties, but we will overcome them.
“The objective of the Turks is to throw the Kurds out of Syria”
What is Turkey's objective?
Expand its power in the region and become the leading power of influence in Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said today that his country is not trying to replace Iran. The facts show the opposite. Nationalist Turks claim that Aleppo belongs to Turkey. The In Fine objective is to throw the Kurds out of Syria.
Do your coalition allies, Americans and French, support you in this fight?
They are our friends and they help us, but against the pro-Turkish groups, much more should be done to dissuade them from advancing. Our allies are not sufficiently using their military capacity, nor their political influence, because they do not want to risk engaging in open conflict with Turkey.
Do you have any idea what Donald Trump's position will be on this issue?
During the last crisis, Donald Trump reached an agreement with Turkey. To achieve this, he threatened them with economic sanctions. I hope his future administration follows the same principles.
Do you fear a major operation in Kobané?
Yes. Many elements lead us to believe that a major offensive is being prepared. It is obvious to us that they are going to attack Kobané.
So we can expect that, until the inauguration of Donald Trump in January, Turkey will take advantage of this firing window to push its pawns as far as possible?
This is exactly what is happening. Turkey is taking advantage of the political situation and buying time.
“Kobané is a symbol of the unification of the fight against Daesh”
Is there a red line? Could Turkey go too far and trigger a reaction from coalition forces?
There is political pressure on the Turks, but no determination to define a red line. Kobané is a symbol of the unification of the fight against Daesh. Normally, there should be a massive mobilization, but the position of the countries which were engaged in the fight against Daesh is not strong enough.
How are your relations with the new master of Damascus Joulani and his group? In the town of Deir Ez-Zor, your troops were present when the HTC took it, what really happened?
When the regime army withdrew from Deir Ez-Zor and the surrounding area, there were no longer any forces present. We coordinated with the coalition to prevent militias, like ISIS, from taking advantage of the situation and taking away the weapons left behind. The missiles and munitions must not fall into the wrong hands.
Have you coordinated with HTC?
Yes absolutely. We warned them that we would stay four days while carrying out this operation. The action was coordinated.
How long have you been talking to HTC?
From the first day of the offensive [le 27 novembre, NDLR]they are the ones who established the dialogue with us. They wanted to reassure us of their intentions: no attacks against the Kurds, no targets on our territory [la région autonome du Nord-est tenue par le FDS, NDLR] nor on territories held by coalition forces [Al-Tanef à la frontière jordanienne contrôlée par les Américains, NDLR]. We have no complaints with the HTC. Part of our forces are still mobilized in Aleppo alongside them and this does not pose a problem.
Do you believe that Joulani has become, as he says, an authentic Syrian nationalist?
I didn't really follow. You know, he only gave his real name two or three days ago. His real identity was classified and he didn't say where he was from.
Doesn't he come from Idlib?
He never said where he was from. There are many stories told about him that we cannot confirm. For years he called himself Joulani and now he uses another name. The only thing we really know is that he was part of ISIS (the Islamic State, Editor's note) and that Baghdadi sent him to Syria, where he defected to establish Jabhat al-Nusra ( independent branch of al-Qaeda Editor's note).
Do you feel ready to work on a unification project with him?
His statements are positive, but we must evaluate actions and not words. Over time, we will compare his speeches with his actions and we will see. In the meantime, we have our own concerns.
What do we think of the presence of foreign fighters at his side?
It will be very difficult for him to get rid of it.
Last week, three members of the FDS were killed by a sleeper cell in the Hasaké region. Is this an isolated act or should we fear a reawakening of Daesh?
The offensive that led to the fall of the regime encouraged Daesh sleeper cells to go on the attack. Not just in this region. Last week, Daesh was very active in the Badia region. Syrian army soldiers were killed along with shepherds and civilians. They captured soldiers in Palmyra and another village.
You hold here the largest prison in the world for former Daesh fighters. Will you still be able to control it?
We try to do our best, but most of the guards in these prisons are Kurds. As the fighting draws closer to their villages and towns, they will have to protect their families.
Do you need help?
If the fighting stops tomorrow, our forces will have the capacity to secure these prisons.
