The United States might exempt the Kurdish area in northeast Syria from anti-Syrian sanctions that came into force with the Caesar Act in mid-June, Abdul Hakim Bashar, a co-founder of the Kurdish National Council in Syria and vice-president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, told Sputnik
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st July, 2020) The United States might exempt the Kurdish area in northeast Syria from anti-Syrian sanctions that came into force with the Caesar Act in mid-June, Abdul Hakim Bashar, a co-founder of the Kurdish National Council in Syria and vice-president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, told Sputnik.
On June 17, the US "Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019" came into effect, as the United States imposed the first package of sanctions under this legislation. The Treasury Department and State Department released 39 designations as what they called the beginning of a sustained campaign of economic and political pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Caesar Act requires the US administration to impose new sanctions on anyone who does business with or provides financing to the Syrian government including security services and the country's central bank.
"I think that the United States has decided to exempt the eastern region of the Euphrates from applying the Caesar restrictions, and that is possible. America has not announced any conditions for it, but I guess that there will be some. Among them, to stop a trade exchange with the regime, its institutions and entities, and not to provide its areas with materials that serve for military purposes, such as oil and other ones," Bashar said.
Last week, Badran Jiakurd, an adviser to the Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, told Reuters the Kurdish authorities were in talks with their military allies in the US-led coalition about an exemption from the US sanctions that have impact on the Kurdish areas.
"As for the Kurds and the impact of sanctions on them, the Kurdish people, in particular, the sanctions have not affected the Kurdish areas so far, neither the Euphrates' east, nor the Kurdish economic authorities. However, there is an indirect influence on the Kurds due to the deterioration of Syria's currency," Bashar said.
The vice-president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces added that the Syrian opposition strongly supported sanctions against Damascus.
The United States is working on the additional packages of sanctions against Damascus in line with the Caesar Act, James Jeffrey, US special representative for Syria engagement, said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said last week that Damascus had already started to implement some measures in an effort to counter the US sanctions that came under the Caesar Act, noting that the country wanted to turn them into "an opportunity to advance the national economy."
