Rebels issue ID cards, expand their control in northern Syria
al bab (syria) — Opposition authorities are issuing new ID cards in northern Syria with help from neighbouring Turkey, expanding their administration over territory that remains outside President Bashar Al Assad’s expanding area of control.
For the many Syrians who lost all forms of identification during the seven-year-long war, the cards stamped with the flag of the antiAssad opposition represent a step towards leading a normal life again.
Translated into Turkish, they also underline the extent of Turkish influence that will complicate Assad’s efforts to win back the area.
“The materials that are used in producing the identities are all from Turkey,” said Abdulrazzaq Abdulrazzaq, an official in the Al Bab city council. Personal data inputted during the process is also “shared with the Turkish side”, he added.
Al Bab is part of a 100km wide piece of territory near Syria’s northern border where Turkey carved out a de facto buffer zone in its 2016 “Euphrates Shield” offensive into Syrian territory.
The operation forced Daesh away from the border but also drove a wedge between two predominantly Kurdish regions of northern Syria, where Ankara has been deeply alarmed by the growth of Kurdish power.
Syrian rebel authorities have sought to develop their own administration in the region. They are being aided by Turkey which is helping with reconstruction and training a new police force.
A Turkish security official said that in addition to ID cards, the process for issuing car licence plates had also begun in the Euphrates Shield area. “The aim in this is to secure the area completely. An organised social life is being built there. One of the first necessities is an ID card,” the official said.
“Turkey is supporting this process,” said the official.
The official added that one main objective was to make sure civilians had a way to distinguish themselves from members of Daesh or the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.
Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the militant Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey.
Abdulrazzaq is expecting to issue the cards to 140,000 people in the city of Al Bab and nearby rural areas. Applicants’ fingerprints are scanned as part of the process.
The step was important for the many Syrians who lost their identity cards during the war, he said. “These cards will be recognised by the Turkish side,” he said.