PKK/PYD(YPG) FORCES PEAKER : GOING FORWARD WITH BASHAR AL ASSAD
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS ROJAVA KURDISTAN SYRIA LATEST : Syrian Kurdish commander says deal with Assad government ‘inevitable’
6 Jan 2019 – Redur Khalil, a spokesman for the Kurdish YPG forces of Syrian Kurdistan and a commander in the Kurdish-led Syrian : AMUDA, Syrian Kurdistan,— A deal between Damascus and Syria’s Kurds over their autonomous region in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) in the country’s north is “inevitable”, a senior Kurdish military official said on Saturday, insisting that Kurdish forces should remain in the area.Marginalised for decades, Syria’s minority Kurds carved out a de facto autonomous region across some 30 percent of the nation’s territory after the devastating war broke out in 2011.
Kurdish forces, backed by a US-led coalition, spearheaded the fight in Syria against the Islamic State group after the jihadists seized large parts of the country and neighbouring Iraq in 2014.But Washington’s shock December announcement that it would withdraw its troops from Syria pushed the Kurds to seek a new alliance with President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, amid fears of a long-expected Turkish assault against Kurdish forces.
Redur Khalil, a commander in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces alliance, told AFP that Kurdish authorities and Damascus were bound to reach a deal.“Reaching a solution between the autonomous administration and the Syrian government is inevitable because our areas are part of Syria,” said Khalil.
Syrian government forces deployed late last month around the key city of Manbij in Aleppo province, after Kurdish forces called for them to arrive.
“Negotiations are ongoing with the government to reach a final formulation for administering the city of Manbij,” Khalil told AFP, adding that talks had shown “positive signs”.
If that leads to a solution that “protects the rights” of Manbij residents, a similar arrangement could be applied to SDF-controlled areas of Deir Ezzor province, east of the Euphrates river, he said.The deployment of government forces along the Turkish border could not be ruled out, he added.Ankara views the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which are the backbone of the SDF, as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“We still have some differences with the central government, which need negotiations with international support,” Khalil said, adding that regime backer Russia could act as a guarantor state.Outstanding issues include the form of government in Kurdish regions and the future of Kurdish forces stationed there, he said.“The tasks of these forces could change, but we will not withdraw from our territory,” Khalil said, adding Kurdish fighters could be integrated into the Syrian army.
He also called for a new constitution that would guarantee Kurdish rights.
Trump said last week the United States would get out of Syria slowly “over a period of time” and would protect Kurdish fighters in the country as Washington draws down troops.
Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last Thursday the United States is speaking to Turkey to ensure it does not “slaughter” Kurds in Syria as US troops leave.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to rid Syria of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).Ankara has been threatening to launch a new offensive against the Syrian Kurdish fighters.Turkey fears the creation of a Kurdish autonomous region or Kurdish state in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) could encourage separatism amongst its own Kurds, according to analysts.
According to analysts, Turkey is using the YPG as a pretext to invade Syrian Kurdistan and to undermine the Kurdish autonomous regions. In 2013, the PYD — the political branch of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) — has established three autonomous Cantons of Jazeera, Kobani and Afrin and a Kurdish government across Syrian Kurdistan in 2013.
On March 17, 2016, Kurdish authorities announced the creation of a “federal region” made up of those semi-autonomous regions in Syrian Kurdistan.
Ankara has previously launched two operations in Syrian Kurdistan.
On August 24, 2016 Turkish troops entered the Syrian territory in a sudden incursion which resulted in the occupation of Jarablus after IS jihadists left the city without resistance. Most of Turkish operations were focused only against the Kurdish forces.
In 2016, the Turkish troops entered northern Syria in an area some 100 km east of Afrin to stop the Kurdish YPG forces from extending areas under their control and connecting Syrian Kurdistan’s Kobani and Hasaka in the east with Afrin canton in the west.
Then in January 2018, Turkish military forces backed pro-Ankara Syrian mercenary fighters to clear the YPG from its northwestern enclave of Afrin. In March 2018, the operation was completed with the capture of the Kurdish city of Afrin.
The flags of Turkey and Syrian rebel groups were raised in the Kurdish Afrin city and a statue of Kurdish hero Kawa, a symbol of resistance against oppressors, was torn down. Residents of the Kurdish city and Human right groups accuse Turkey and pro-Ankara fighters of kidnappings for ransom, armed robberies and torture. www.mesop.de