Analysis: Concerns Grow That Damascus Is Exploiting Hasakah Unrest to Dismantle Kurdish Institutions

Hasakah, Syria — Reports circulating among Kurdish local sources indicate a growing concern that recent Arab tribal unrest in Hasakah may be part of a broader, coordinated effort to manufacture Kurdish-Arab confrontation — and so give Damascus a pretext to take direct control over areas still run by Kurdish institutions.

According to a source in the Kurdish local authority in Hasakah who spoke to the Middle East Forum (citing the Jerusalem Post's reporting), a coordinated campaign emerged on social media calling on Arab residents of Ghuwayran to organise demonstrations and raise government flags in the city centre "under the pretext of restoring state authority." The source assesses the political agenda behind the events as "exploiting divisions between Arab and Kurdish communities, particularly through the mobilisation of sections of the Arab tribal population, to create conditions conducive to sectarian or ethnic confrontation."

The source further warned that widespread violence would pressure Kurdish authorities to request central intervention — which Damascus could then use as justification to deploy additional forces and progressively assume security and administrative control over Hasakah.

The analysis follows a series of flashpoints: organised "Friday of Imposing Sovereignty" rallies demanding the dissolution of Kurdish institutions, the killing of SDF veteran Sîpan Hiznî in September, deadly unrest and a fire at the Kobanê prison, vandalism of the graves of Kurdish fighters, and the return-related attacks in Ras al-Ain and Girê Spî. Recent limited return convoys from Hasakah to Ras al-Ain have been organised by government authorities, drawing continued scrutiny over whether remaining Kurdish institutions will retain their standing in the political settlement. (Sources: Middle East Forum / Kurdish Center for Studies / Hawar News)