MESOP TOP ON THE AGENDA : WHY ASSAD BOMBS KURDS NOW AFTER LONG TIME GOOD RELAT IONS – RESSOURCES BY : WSJ / CNN/ AL JAZEERA/ AL MONITOR / CFR CHATHAM HOUSE

Syrian Government Airstrikes Hit Kurds, Signaling Escalation

Syrian planes bombed Kurdish positions in the country’s northeast on Thursday, marking a potential escalation by the government (WSJ) against Kurdish forces. Syrian Kurds have not previously been targets of the Syrian regime. The Kurdish YPG militia is one of the primary allies of the United States against the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria, and U.S. defense officials said (CNN) that the airstrikes occurred with U.S. military personnel “nearby.” Elsewhere in Syria, the Russian government proposed (Al Jazeera) a two-day ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to reach the besieged city of Aleppo, but stopped short of supporting a broader pause in fighting.

ANALYSIS

“Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG), who are accused of embracing the ideology of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), managed to earn the international community’s trust after the 2014 battle for Kobani. This feat led to an international consensus, including the United States and NATO, to support them in the face of the Islamic State,” writes Sardar Mlla Drwish in Al-Monitor.

“The international community must use its diplomatic heft to strive for real and unfettered humanitarian access for civilians inside Syria, not more talk as mothers, fathers, and children perish. A cessation of hostilities that is not tied to political imperatives should be the immediate goal. And the world must keep its eyes and its pressure on the warring parties to protect those most vulnerable: citizens who are not fighting in the war around them and who have absolutely no place to go to escape it,” writes Gayle Tzemach Lemmon in Foreign Affairs.

“We’re at a juncture in which the United States has been left with few choices. Through its regional allies, the United States should work toward the least-bad scenario, trying to push [rebel] groups to embrace moderation and empower the few remaining groups that are not ideological. This might push people [who belong to] groups like Nusra but do not adhere to Nusra’s ideology to see that they have a third option,” says Chatham House’s Lina Khatib in a CFR.org interview.