Syriac Military Council Commander Kino Gabriel stated that they have received intelligence that ISIS holds the Syriac women they took captive a year ago in Nineveh and the Êzidî women taken captive in Shengal in Deir ez-Zor right now and said: “Our first goal is to rescue these Syriac and Êzidî women from ISIS. We will not only rescue them, of course, we will liberate all captives from ISIS.”

Gabriel mentioned the alliance between the US and Russia in the fight against ISIS and said: “But unfortunately the regime and countries like Turkey don’t proceed in accordance with this alliance, i.e. the goal to end ISIS. The regime hit SDF in Deir ez-Zor countless times, we even have martyrs. The regime attempted a provocation with these attacks and tried to pull us into a war with them, but we avoided this war and kept at our goal of fighting ISIS.”

One of the fundamental constituents of the SDF, who carried out the Operation Cizire Storm that will go down on history as the final operation against ISIS in Northern Syria, is the Syriac Military Council.

Syriac Military Council Commander Kino Gabriel spoke to the ANF about the importance of the Operation Cizire Storm and their goals as the Syriac Military Council.

“OUR GOAL IS TO SAVE THE PEOPLES OF SYRIA FROM SUFFERING”

Gabriel stated that the only goal of the Syriac Military Council today, as part of the SDF, is to clear Syria of ISIS and similar forces that oppress the people. He continued:

“Our goal as the Syriac Military Council is to defend and liberate the Syriac people wherever they are oppressed in Syria. But it’s not just the Syriacs, we will do the same for all peoples of Syria. We have participated in all operations in Rojava and Syria, wherever there is a new operation we are prepared to go.

We participated in the battle of Qamishlo, we went to Shengal. We were in the operation to liberate Haseke and Khabur, and the Shaddadi, Manbij and Raqqa operations. Right now we are marching on the same path, we participated in the Operation Cizire Storm to defend Deir ez-Zor and all peoples in the region.”

“WE WILL RESCUE THE SYRIACS AND ÊZIDÎS BROUGHT TO DEIR EZ-ZOR”

Kino Gabriel said that they have one more fundamental goal as the Syriac Military Council and added: “According to intelligence we have gathered, the Syriac women taken captive one year ago in Nineveh, Iraq are held in Deir ez-Zor right now by ISIS. The captive Êzidî women have also been brought to Deir ez-Zor. Our first goal is to rescue these Syriac and Êzidî women from ISIS. Of course we won’t only be rescuing them, but all those held captive at the hands of ISIS.

Right now, the regime is advancing on one end and the SDF on the other. Our target is ISIS. We do not want to fight the regime or any other forces in Deir ez-Zor. Our goals to rescue those captive in Deir ez-Zor should be one with the regime, and there should be an agreement.”

“THE REGIME WANTS TO PROVOKE US AND PULL US INTO WAR”

Kino Gabriel mentioned the two largest states in the world, the US and Russia, forming an alliance and making a deal in the fight against ISIS, and added: “In the fight against ISIS, the US supports us, the SDF. And Russia supports the regime. We don’t do anything to dissolve this alliance, we don’t strike anyone other than ISIS. Our only goal is to end ISIS. That is how we proceed. But the regime and countries like Turkey don’t proceed in accordance with this alliance, i.e. the goal to end ISIS. The regime hit SDF in Deir ez-Zor countless times, we even have martyrs. The regime attempted a provocation with these attacks and tried to pull us into a war with them, but we avoided this war and kept at our goal of fighting ISIS.”

“IT’S A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE DEIR EZ-ZOR IS COMPLETELY CLEARED”

Kino Gabriel pointed out that a significant victory was achieved with the Operation Cizire Storm and continued:

“Just like Raqqa, we believe we will clear Deir ez-Zor of ISIS 100%. Because we have already liberated most of the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria with the blood of our martyrs and heroes. There isn’t much left to go. We will liberate the remaining areas of Deir ez-Zor as well.

Our political and military goal with this operation is to guarantee the life our peoples have built and defended together in Northern Syria. We decided to defend ourselves and build a common life together as the peoples in Rojava before 2014. We did that, and we increasingly liberated Northern Syrian territories from ISIS. We want to stand as an example to the whole of Syria in the only path that the Syrian peoples can achieve their rights and freedoms.”

“WE ARE A MODEL FOR SYRIA WITH OUR DEFENSE AND COMMON LIFE”

Syriac Military Council Commander Kino Gabriel also said:

“The peoples of Syria and the Middle East rose up for a revolution all together in the beginning. But then, the peoples were pitted against each other through religion and sects.

Our revolution was grand, but it was crippled after with these. Not just in Syria, this happened in other Arab Spring countries as well. In Tunisia, and now in Yemen, the same thing happened. Jihadists emerged and disrupted these revolutions. But we didn’t do that in Rojava. Here all the peoples stood up together and marched on. Instead of getting on each other’s throats, in Rojava the peoples defended Rojava together and built their common life and their administration. This in time spread to other areas in Northern Syria.

Our military and political success in Northern Syria should be an example for all Syrian and Middle Eastern peoples, and they should achieve their own revolutions. We want to completely liberate Northern Syria and to put forth the democratic federation system as a model that all peoples of Syria can live together in.”