Today marks the 9th anniversary of the founding of the Syriac Military Council (Mawtbo Fulḥoyo Suryoyo, MFS) by the youth of North and East Syria to protect their homeland and people from extremist forces - first the Islamic State (ISIS) and now the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA).

In a statement on the occasion, the General Command of the Syriac Military Council said the following:

“The Syriac Military Council has worked throughout the past years to provide for the protection, security and safety of our people through our pioneering participation in various military campaigns since the beginning of the war against terrorism, standing side by side with the various councils and formations of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in unity with our Kurdish and Arab brothers and comrades. Every component of our society in North and East Syria has made great sacrifices together, and together we defeated the terrorist organization ISIS, which posed a threat to our people and to the entire world.

The ninth anniversary of the establishment of our forces comes to pass in the face of persistent violations against our people by Turkey and its mercenaries, who continue to target the Syriac-Assyrian villages in and around the countryside of Tal-Tamr and the Khabur Valley. Our forces continue to deploy in these areas in a manner which ensures the protection of civilians and responds to the sources of fire within the framework of a project of legitimate self-defense. Our forces are also involved in various security operations which target ISIS terrorist cells and secure terrorist prisons and camps.

On this basis, our strategy in the next year will focus on raising the qualitative level of our forces in order to ensure the continued protection of the regions and villages of our Assyrian-Syriac people. We will continue to participate in the war against terrorism and terrorist sleeper cells, and we will continue to support the efforts of the Democratic Autonomous Administration to attain the right climate to find a political solution which ensures the rights of our people and fulfills their national demands. We renew our promise to our people and our martyrs that we will not fail to uphold the legitimate self-defense of our people and our country against all threats of violence and terrorism as we move forward to achieve the security and safety of our regions.

We extend our highest congratulations to our Syriac-Assyrian people on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of the founding of our forces, and we are thankful for their continued support for our resistance.”