ALEPPO, SYRIA: Syria’s US backed Kurds are getting indirect help from anunlikely source in their war against Turkey in the northwestern region ofAfrin: President Bashar al-Assad.
Pro-government forces and Kurdish-led forces have fought each otherelsewhere in Syria and Damascus opposes the Kurds’ demands for autonomy.But in Afrin they have a common enemy and a mutual interest in blockingTurkish advances.
link>Turkey link> ,which regards the Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin as a threat on its southernborder, launched an assault on the region last month. Seeking to shieldAfrin, the Kurds asked Damascus to send forces into action to defend theborder.
The government shows no sign of doing so, but it is providing indirect helpby allowing Kurdish fighters, civilians and politicians to reach Afrinthrough territory it holds, representatives of both sides told Reuters.
The arrival of reinforcements is likely to sustain Kurdish resistance, bogdown the Turkish forces and prolong a conflict that is sapping theresources of military powers that rival him for control of Syrian territory.
For the United States, it is yet another complication in Syria’sseven-year-old war, and a reminder of how its Syrian Kurdish ally must attimes make deals with link>Assadlink> even as it builds military ties with theUnited States.
Lacking international protection, the Kurdish-led forces in northern Syriasay they have reached agreements with Damascus to allow reinforcements tobe sent to Afrin from other Kurdish-dominated areas – Kobani and theJazeera region.
“There are different ways to get reinforcements to Afrin but thefundamental route is via regime forces. There are understandings betweenthe two forces … for the sake of delivering reinforcements to Afrin,” KinoGabriel, spokesperson for the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces(SDF), said.
While the Kurds depend on link>Assadlink> to reach Afrin, Kurdish sources say theyalso enjoy leverage over Damascus because it needs their cooperation tosource grain and oil from areas of the northeast under Kurdish control.
A commander in the military alliance fighting in support oflink>Assadlink> said “theKurds have no option but coordination with the regime” to defend Afrin.
“The Syrian regime is helping the Kurds with humanitarian support and somelogistics, like turning a blind eye and allowing Kurdish support to reachsome fronts,” said the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Turkish military is making slow gains nearly three weeks into theoperation it calls “Olive Branch”.
Ankara views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK),which has fought a three-decade insurgency inlink>Turkey link> andis regarded as a terrorist group by the United States and the EuropeanUnion.
The United States has relied on the YPG as a vital ground component of itswar against Islamic State, and has backed the group in other Kurdish-runregions in northern Syria along the border withlink>Turkey link> .
But U.S. forces are not in Afrin, so have been unable to shield Afrin fromthe attack by link>Turkeylink> , its NATO ally.
The Kurds meanwhile accuse Russia of giving a green light for the Turkishattack by withdrawing observers it deployed in Afrin last year.
The Afrin war marks another twist in the complicated story of relationsbetween link>Assadlink> and the Syrian Kurdish groups,spearheaded by the YPG, that have carved out autonomous regions in northernSyria since the war began in 2011.
The YPG controls nearly all of Syria’s frontier withlink>Turkey link> .But Afrin is separated from the bigger Kurdish-controlled region furthereast by a 100 km-wide zone controlled by the Turkish military and itsSyrian militia allies.
For much of the war, Damascus and the YPG have avoided confrontation, attimes fighting common enemies, including the rebel groups that are nowhelping link>Turkeylink> attack Afrin.
But tensions have mounted in recent months, with Damascus threatening tomarch into parts of eastern and northern Syria captured by the SDF withsupport from the U.S.-led coalition.
Underlining that, pro-Syrian government forces attacked the SDF in theeastern province of Deir al-Zor, drawing coalition air strikes overnightthat killed more than 100 of the attackers, the coalition said.
“The regime has allowed the YPG to bring people into Afrin, while attackingit east of Euphrates (River). I think that is indicative of the state ofrelations right,” said Noah Bonsey, International Crisis Group’s SeniorAnalyst on Syria.
He added: “There is still a significant gap between the YPG and regimepositions on the future of northeastern Syria. – Agencies