MESOP ROJAVA SYRIA : PYD/PKK AGREED WITH MAJOR MILITARY BASE FOR PUTIN’S IMPERIALISM ON KURDISH GROUND – Deal to Allow Russian Base in Northwest

March 21 – 2017 – By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – The Kurdish militia YPG says it has agreed to the establishment of a Russian military base in the Afrin canton in northwestern Syria.  The YPG said Moscow will help train its fighters. The Russian Defense Ministry denied any plans for new military bases. Instead, it said a branch of its “reconciliation center”, pursuing capitulations of opposition territory, had been placed near the town of Afrin in Aleppo Province.  But YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said Russian troops are already arriving with troop carriers and armored vehicles.

Russia has stepped up its political and military support of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD) and its YPG militia.

Earlier this month Moscow and the US placed units and equipment near Manbij, northeast of Aleppo city, to protect the city — held by the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces — from an advance by a Turkish-rebel force. The Kurdish canton of Afrin is separated from the cantons of Cezire and Kobane in northeast Syria by opposition and Turkish-rebel territory.

The YPG’s step — and any Russian acceptance — is likely to heighten tensions with Turkey. Ankara considers the PYD and YPG as part of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK, which has been fighting Turkish security forces for more than 30 years.

Russia’s main base for its September 2015 air and ground intervention has been Hmeimim in Latakia Province in western Syria. However, Russian warplanes, special forces, and military advisors have been positioned throughout much of the country. www.mesop.de