Turkish Syria Policy, the question of arming the opposition and Kurdish disagreements

In an interview, Syria Deeply asked the Turkish professor Gokhan Bacik about the major issues ‎Turkey is facing because of the crisis in Syria. According to Bacik, the two major issues are ‎border security and the Kurds. Also, their position depends on international partners, such as the ‎US, which are in no hurry to resolve […]

In an interview, Syria Deeply asked the Turkish professor Gokhan Bacik about the major issues ‎Turkey is facing because of the crisis in Syria. According to Bacik, the two major issues are ‎border security and the Kurds. Also, their position depends on international partners, such as the ‎US, which are in no hurry to resolve the conflict. Most likely, the renewed attack on Turkish soil, ‎this time in the border town of Ceylanpinar, will not alter Turkey’s stance on Syria. Given a more ‎anxious public, retaliation is still no option for Turkey as the situation on the ground seems to ‎become unclear.

Meanwhile the leader of the National Coalition Assi Al-Jarba is visiting Europe and the US to hold ‎talks about issues concerning arming of the opposition and the humanitarian crisis. On his tour ‎through Europe, al-Jarba who is backed by the Saudi-Arabian state will first meet French ‎president Hollande after which he will be expected in London and Berlin.‎

According to the Guardian, British Prime Minister David Cameron admitted that Bashar Al-Assad strengthened his position ‎and it is a “depressing trajectory”. Nevertheless, he remained clear about his view not to provide ‎arms to the opposition but rather engage in non-lethal aid to parts of the opposition. While he ‎states that there are “a lot of bad guys” in the opposition, one needs to further support the Syrians ‎who want democracy and freedom in their country.

An important topic this week has been the situation of the Kurdish areas in Syria and the ‎proclamation of independence. France24 reports about plans for a self-government which ‎should be instated until the end of the civil war in Syria. Thereby, the strongest Kurdish group in ‎Syria, the PYD, declared that this is not a call for separation but a temporary government which ‎shall meet the needs of the people and defend its borders. In order to build up a temporary ‎government, there shall be elections in which residents of Kurdish areas are encouraged to vote. ‎In the run-up to the elections, there seem to be inner-Kurdish disagreements, mainly between the ‎PYD and the KDP-S (which is close to the party of Massoud Barzani in Iraqi-Kurdistan), on who ‎will run the armed forces. The PYD has suggested to other militias to take part in the PYD ranks ‎so that factional fights can be prevented which in turn is rejected by other Kurdish factions.‎
According to Rudaw, efforts to dissolve these differences between the the factions in Kurdish ‎areas in Syria seem to fail. Specifically, it is claimed that the Kurdish Supreme Committee which ‎was build a year ago to resolve conflicts among the rival Kurdish-Syrian groups has failed. ‎Analysts have critiqued that it has failed to be the voice of Syrian Kurds but is rather dominated ‎by the two Iraqi-Kurdish parties KDP and PUK and the PKK in Turkey. It would be more ‎favorable for all different factions to come together in Qamishli. Criticism also concerns the self-‎interest of the parties who would stand in contradiction to those interests expressed by a ‎‎”revolutionary Syrian-Kurdish youth”. ‎

However, there are not only inner-Kurdish rivalries but as Wladimir van Wilgenburg explains on ‎Al-Monitor clashes between the PYD and the Islamist Jabhat Al-Nusra. The clashes took place in ‎Ras al-Ain. While it looks like the clashes are a result of ideological differences, it seems more ‎likely that border control is a much more important topic.‎

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