A Kurdish lawyer criticizes Nadine Maenza for her silence about the kidnapping of minors and the militarization of children

ARK News… The director of the treasurer of the Freedom Research Foundation, Miss Nadine Besler Maenza, on Friday met with the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, Mazloum Abdi in NE Syria and she published in her account on Facebook that she feels thankful for time with Mazloum Abdi, General Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in NE Syria.

The director of the treasurer of the Freedom Research Foundation praised the meeting by saying: “I feel thankful for time with Mazloum Abdi, General Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in NE Syria, and “Know the secret of their legendary defeat of the ISIS Caliphate as partners of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS? They were not just fighting against ISIS but FOR something - for a future for the people of NE Syria.

Maenza mentioned during her meeting with Mazloum Abdi saying: “As they were liberating areas from ISIS, they were also empowering the local citizens to set up self-governance that has become the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) that includes all residents, carefully including all ethnicities and religions with 1/2 the leaders being women. They even have 3 official’s languages: Kurdish, Arabic & Syriac.

Maenza added that “This is how to stop a "forever war." They have filled the governance and security voids that otherwise would have been filled by Islamists and Iranian militias. This is how to build long-term peace and stability and keep ISIS from rising again. This also stops Iran's land bridge to Israel and Lebanon.

The Lawyer and the writer Hussein Jelebi, who resides in Europe, responded to the meeting that took place between the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, Mazloum Abdi, and the treasurer of the Freedom Research Foundation, Nadine Besler Maenza, and published on his account on Facebook, where he said: His forces were kidnapping two underage Kurdish girls in Qamishlo in Syrian Kurdistan and forcibly recruiting them. Did you know about that? Or is it normal and kidnapping Kurdish children and recruiting them is necessary, as long as it serves your country's policies?

Jelebi added: “The secret of their legendary defeat of the ISIS caliphate as partners in the global coalition led by the United States to defeat ISIS?” It was not “for the future of the people of northeastern Syria,” as you mentioned, but rather for money, as President Trump confirmed. They sold you the blood of the Kurds and destroyed their regions and their future for a few dollars.

Forcibly recruiting children is also as a kind of war crime when Women's Protection Units (YPJ) militants kidnapped the two minor girls, Mirav Adnan Khasho, 15 years old and Simel Zidan Ismail, 14 years old, in the city of Qamishlo, October 17, 2023.


Noraddin Khasho, Mirav’s and Simel uncle, said in a special video statement to ARK, “Mirav and Simel were kidnapped while leaving their grandmother’s house. It later became clear that the Women’s Protection Units were the kidnappers, after we received a call from them.”

He confirmed, "We checked with all the relevant institutions, but we did not receive any information about their fate. After persistent attempts, her parents were able to meet with them, but unfortunately their actions indicate that they were forced to take narcotic medications."

He added, "They brainwashed them, disowned their parents, did not recognize them, and behaved with their parents in an inappropriate manner, contrary to what was mentioned above."

He also added, "The Women's Protection Units are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and legally it is not permissible to recruit children and minors. Any law allows this blatant violation. We did not defame any entity or party. We hoped well to return them, but it seems that they do not respect the laws. They neither acknowledge nor "They implement and violate it at the same time."

Noraddin Khasho appealed to humanitarian organizations to work to return them to the arms of their families.

Khasho explained, “After great efforts and through the SDF Relations Office, we were able to hold a meeting with the Women’s Protection Units and meet with Simel and Mirav, who showed signs of fear and anxiety, and were staring into the eyes of the Unit’s officials while they exchanged conversations.”

Khasho pointed out that “Simel and Mirav are two minor girls. They are studying together in the tenth grade, and they are taking care of their sick grandmother and grandfather. Their age does not entitle them to join an armed military organization.”

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reveals in its report released at the beginning of 2021, that the report documents at least 537 cases of child recruitment carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria since the SDF’s establishment – since the establishment of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party’s Self-Management forces – in January 2014 up to December 15, 2021; to date, at least 156 children are still conscripted by the SDF, divided between 102 males and 54 females. Among the child conscription cases, the report documents the deaths of at least 29 of the children conscripted by the SDF in combat operations.

The ARK News has documents cases of child recruitment and militarizing children that carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syrian in areas controlled by the SDF is reached 48 during this year alone, and there are hundreds of kidnapped minors during the past years, and the process of kidnapping minors is still continuing until now.

The so-called (Women's Protection Units - YPJ) is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which signed an action plan with the United Nations in order to end and prevent the recruitment of children under the age of 18. (The plan was signed by the Commander-in-Chief of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi (Kobani), with the United Nations representative concerned with children, and the armed conflict, Virginia Gamba), but the involvement of minors in battles and their recruitment is still continuing, amid neglect of the appeals of the children’s families and the calls of activists, politicians, and Kurdish parties for the need to put an end to this dangerous phenomenon.

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