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From the noblest peoples... to the brink of darkness
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Syria... Between internal stabs and external conspiracy
As a Syrian Kurdish citizen, I was born within the borders drawn by Sykes-Picot, which divided nations and partitioned peoples. I have known oppression and deprivation. My Kurdish people have endured marginalization and persecution for decades. Yet, despite all this, I have never lost faith that the Syrian people, in all their components, were among the noblest peoples in the region and even the world: an educated, kind, open-minded, creative people capable of coexistence despite poverty and restrictions.
But a pressing question arises: What happened..?
How did this people, once bursting with life and dignity, transform into a reality approaching dark ages..?
The truth is, the collapse did not come suddenly. Internal tyranny combined with regional and international interventions. Decades of political repression made society fragile, and then war completed the cycle: bloody violence, displacement, division, and manipulation of people's fates at the tables of major powers. Instead of investing Syrians’ energies in construction and revival, they were drained in conflict and infighting, to the point that it seemed as if someone deliberately aimed to regress Syria backward.
Even more dangerous is that some internal forces participated, knowingly or unknowingly, in this scheme. Party divisions, personal conflicts, and infighting among the people made the oppressors and interveners stronger, while internal weakness allowed others to dominate. Here lies the tragedy: the problem is no longer just in the governments, but also in the hand that stabbed from within.
Yet, one thing defies logic: how can the history of a people with such depth be erased..?
How is it intended to transform a people once renowned for generosity, culture, and humanity into just a news item in sorrowful bulletins..?
The Syrian people deserve to be restored to their rightful place: a living, productive, unique people, not to be reduced to ruins or erased by tyranny. The issue is not only political but also a matter of awareness, memory, and identity. Syria does not only need the reconstruction of stone, but also the rebuilding of the person who was humiliated, oppressed, and killed.
The road may be long, but hope remains that Syrians, of all nationalities and religions, will return to a unified national project that protects their dignity and restores what was taken from them. No force can kill peoples if they truly desire to live.
Mahin Shekhani
