Saturday, September 10, 2016

Syrian War Report : Kurdish YPG engage Turkish Forces in Hatay Province - Iranians arrive in Southern Aleppo - Vijay Prashad on Complex Battlefield



Vijay Prashad says YPG - Syrian Democratic Forces want a Syrian Federation not a unitary State.

Turks by entering into Syria have slowed down Peace Process whatever the rhetorics





The US and Russia have agreed on a plan to end fighting in Syria and introduce political transition to the country after a day of intense talks.

The Question of Raqqa ?

According to Barak Barfi, who is a Research Fellow for New America Foundation, the Turkish intervention will only complicate the Raqqa operation.

“The entry of Turkey into the Syrian conflict will have negative ramifications for any potential operation against the ISIS de facto capital of Raqqa,” he told ARA News.

“The YPG [a Kurdish force and leading member of the SDF] is now focused on a lurking battle with the Turks, not a distant ISIS threat. Local politics have finally caught up with the American campaign against ISIS,” Barfi said.  

Speaking to ARA News, Timur Akhmetov, an independent Russian analyst on the Middle East, said that any cooperation between the SDF and Turkey on Raqqa would require a change in Turkey’s position towards the Kurds.

“It would require a change in Turkey’s position on the PYD [Democratic Union party in Syria]. Currently, taking into account ongoing fight with PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party], any close cooperation between Ankara and PYD seems very unlikely,” he said.

“However, it doesn’t mean that any other form of cooperation is impossible. In February 2015, relocation of the tomb of Suleyman Shah in Syria couldn’t take place without some level of coordination with the PYD,” Akhmetov said. 

“In any case, both forces can coordinate their actions against Daesh [ISIS] with every side focusing on its own objective while acting under one command, possibly the US.

But still any plans of this kind would require considerable change in PKK policy in Turkey,” he concluded.

Reporting by: Wladimir van Wilgenburg

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