(24 Aug 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Afrin, Syria – 20 August 2025
1. Various of Kurdish men lining up to register for positions within the Syrian Security Forces
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abbas Mohammad Hamouda, a Kurdish Alawite recruit: ++COVERED BY SHOT 1++
“I came with other young men to enlist in the Internal Security Forces, to enlist in protecting Afrin, to enlist so that we can all be united as one hand, without having any racism, for example, from the side of religions or from any other side.”
3. Internal security member taking names of recruits
4. Various of recruits lining to register
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ferhad Khurto, Deputy Director of the Afrin District for Political Affairs: ++PARTLY COVERED BY SHOT 4++
“It is a state strategy to involve all segments of society in the governance of the state and in state-building, so that a sense of national belonging exists for everyone. This is to ensure that it is not said that the state favors a certain ethnicity, color, or religion. Everyone is a partner in this state.”
6. Recruits lining up at a recruitment centre in Afrin
STORYLINE:
Young Kurdish men, including members of religious minorities, recently signed up to join the Syrian government’s General Security forces in Afrin, an area in the country’s north from which Kurds were forcibly displaced years ago.
The push to recruit ethnic and religious minorities comes as the government in Damascus faces increased scrutiny after outbreaks of sectarian violence in recent months during which there were widespread reports of government-affiliated fighters killing and humiliating civilians from the Alawite and Druze sects.
A U.N.-backed commission that investigated violence on Syria’s coast recommended earlier this month that authorities should recruit from minority communities for a more “diverse security force composition” to improve community relations and trust.
In Afrin, authorities have heeded that advice, with groups of young Kurds from various religious sects lining up to enlist in the Internal Security Forces.
“It is a state strategy to involve all segments of society in the governance of the state and in state-building, so that a sense of national belonging exists for everyone," said Ferhad Khurto, the Deputy Director of the Afrin District for Political Affairs.
According to Khurto, about 1,000 young men had signed up in recent days to join in the area.
He did not provide a breakdown of the demographics of the new recruits.
When asked for the numbers and percentage of minorities joining the security forces, Noureddine al-Baba, spokesperson for the Syrian Ministry of Interior, told The Associated Press “competence and patriotism are the criteria used, not sectarian quotas.”
The recruitment effort drew skepticism in some quarters.
Minorities are increasingly wary of the new authorities in Damascus, who are led by Sunni Muslim Islamist former insurgents who overthrew President Bashar Assad in December after a nearly 14-year civil war.
An agreement reached in March between Damascus and Kurdish-led forces that control much of northeast Syria also has been on shaky ground.
Abbas Mohammad Hamouda, a Kurdish Alawite, was among the young men lining up at a recruitment center in Afrin on Wednesday.
“I came with other young men to enlist in the Internal Security Forces, to enlist in protecting Afrin, to enlist so that we can all be united as one hand, without having any racism, for example, from the side of religions or from any other side," he said.
AP video shot by: Omar Albam
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/91a4190975a5486eb395684cce8f4724
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in August 29, 2025, 9:04 am.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
