Sutoro

The Syriac Security Office (Syriac: ܡܟܬܒܐ ܕܣܘܬܪܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ‎, Arabic: سوتورو‎), commonly known as the Sutoro or the Sutoro Police is a Syriac (Assyrian) Christian militia in the Al-Hasakah Governorate of the Syrian Arab Republic. It is the armed wing of the Syriac Union Party (SUP). The Sutoro collaborate closely with Kurdish groups.

The Sutoro Police should not be confused with the Qamishli Sootoro which has the same name in the Syriac language, but uses the English translation "Syriac Protection Office" and the transliteration "Sootoro". This organization in the town of Qamishli is a government-aligned Syriac and Armenian Christian militia. The Sutoro Police considers the Qamishli Sootoro to be a breakaway group from the Syriac Union Party, while the Qamishli Sootoro claims to have always been a separate group.

Sutoro units were first organized in city of al-Qahtaniyah (Qabre Hewore), and soon thereafter in al-Malikiyah (Dayrik).

Cooperation with the YPG

The Syriac Union Party maintains warm and friendly relations with its Kurdish neighbours, and was one of numerous organisations to join the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in establishing a formal administration for self-governance in three areas of northern Syria often informally called West Kurdistan or Rojava. Following this policy, the Sutoro has sought to align itself with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from an early juncture. Although the Kurds were initially suspicious when it started organising and wanted its members to either disarm or join Kurdish formations, the Sutoro was soon accepted and welcomed by Kurdish forces. It currently operates alongside the Kurdish Asayish police force, manning joint checkpoints and patrolling neighbourhoods together, while its paramilitary counterpart, the Syriac Military Council (MFS), formally joined the ranks of the YPG in January 2014.