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West widens contacts with Syria's Kurds in
western Kurdistan but suspicion remains
9.9.2014 |
|
A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter holds a a
rocket-propelled grenade launcher as he takes up
position in an area overlooking Baretle village
(background), which is controlled by the Islamic
State, in Khazir, on the edge of Mosul in northwest
Iraq, September 8, 2014. Photo: Reuters.
•
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September 9, 2014
BEIRUT, —The fight against Islamic State
could at last win Syria's Kurds the Western help
they have sought, but they must first clarify their
relationship to President Bashar al-Assad and
reassure Turkey that they won't cause trouble on its
border.
The United States has entered the war against
Islamic State fighters in Iraq with air strikes, but
is still trying to decide a strategy for fighting
the group on the other side of the frontier in
Syria.
In Iraq, Kurds are one of the main Western allies
against Islamic State. But in Syria, where Kurdish
militia have carved out a swathe of northern
territory (Syrian Kurdistan) and repeatedly battled
against Islamic State during a three-and-a-half year
civil war, Kurds have yet to win the West's
acceptance as partners.
The main Kurdish political party in Syria, the PYD,
and its armed wing, the YPG, say they are obvious
allies for Western states as the only force with a
proven track record of combating Islamic State
there. The Kurds are dismissive of the moderate
Syrian opposition that has been backed by the West
but outgunned by Islamist groups.
But the West has so far kept Syria's Kurds at arm's
length. NATO member Turkey has concerns over the
PYD's historic links to the separatist PKK that
fought for Kurdish rights on the Turkish side of the
border. And pro-Western Syrian opposition groups
accuse the PYD of having cooperated with Assad's
government to take control of territory in 2012,
which the Kurds deny.
Since Islamic State overran the Iraqi city of Mosul
in June, the PYD has been offered a chance to
address both issues in a flurry of contacts with
foreign officials, including some from "major
powers", said Khaled Eissa, PYD representative in
France. He declined to identify the countries
involved, citing diplomatic protocol.
"They have given us signals that their position
towards us is changing. But in my analysis - based
on the contacts I mentioned - there are still
obstacles," Eissa said by phone.
"They know the YPG are the most effective force
against (Islamic State). They want more assurances
for the Turkish side," he said. "NATO states allied
to Turkey must reassure it and make it understand
that Islamic State's existence is also a danger to
Turkey and that the PYD does not wish ill on
anyone."
A MEETING ON MOUNT SINJAR
The foreign contacts increased last month when
Islamic State fighters in Iraq besieged thousands of
members of the ancient minority Yazidi Kurds atop a
desert mountain, which U.S. President Barack Obama
described as a potential genocide.
YPG fighters crossed into Iraq to help evacuate the
Yazidis. That role improved the PYD's image, a
Western official said.
"I don't anticipate a major change of policy, but I
do anticipate greater dialogue with the PYD."
Redur Xelil, YPG spokesman, said the group had met
U.S. military officials on the mountain, Mount
Sinjar, to discuss the Yazidi evacuation. But apart
from that, there had been no contacts between the
armed group and the West, he said.
"We hope for strong cooperation with American or
European states in the fight against Islamic State -
be it either in Syria or Iraq," he said, speaking by
telephone.
Kurds live in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, and many
have long dreamed of a state of their own. The
closest they have come is in Iraq, where they rule
an autonomous region that has managed to assuage
concern from its neighbors and win support from the
West.
Germany, Britain, France and Italy have all said
they will arm Iraqi Kurdish security forces fighting
Islamic State.
The Kurds in Syria have received no such help in
crucial battles against Islamic State fighters,
whose arsenals have become far more potent since
June with weaponswww.Ekurd.net
seized from the Iraqi and Syrian militaries.
In July, the YPG fought off a major Islamic State
attack on Kobani, a Kurdish city in Syrian Kurdistan
[Rojava] (also known as Ain al-Arab in Arabic) that
is important because of its location on the Turkish
border. Kurdish fighters crossed into Syria from
Turkey to help in the fight.
Ocalan Iso, a Kurdish military commander in Kobani,
says YPG fighters are now taking the fight to
Islamic State in nearby areas used as operational
bases by the Islamists.
The YPG has also been battling Islamic State at the
Iraqi border. It says 35 of its fighters were killed
in a two-week battle for control of the village of
Jazaa at the frontier. The YPG says it has killed
hundreds of Islamic State fighters.
ALEPPO - A TEST CASE FOR
COOPERATION
Syrian Kurds worry that if Islamic State fighters
are driven from Iraq they will become an even bigger
threat in Syria. "It won’t be enough to bomb their
positions in Iraq. If Obama or America bombs their
positions in Syria, there must be coordination with
the Kurdish forces," Iso said.
He estimated the size of the YPG at 50,000 fighters.
It is not yet clear what the United States will do
about Islamic State's foothold in Syria, where U.S.
decision-making is complicated by its opposition to
Assad. Western states that have backed the uprising
against Assad have rebuffed the Syrian government's
call for cooperation against Islamic State.
Obama has authorized air surveillance over Syria,
a decision that prompted speculation he was on the
brink of ordering air strikes on the group there,
but these do not appear imminent.
Part of his plan is to enhance support for moderate
Sunni Arab groups, who are fighting against both
Assad and Islamic State. The Kurds say they are
cooperating with the same groups, notably in a
battle for territory north of Aleppo.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which
monitors violence in the Syrian war, has recently
recorded cooperation between Sunni Arab rebels and
Kurds in the area, the organization's founder Rami
Abdulrahman said.
For such cooperation to take hold, the Syrian Kurds
and moderate Sunni Arabs must shelve suspicions of
each other's aims. Aleppo could be a test case. The
Islamic State's advance in territory north of the
city is threatening supply lines for other Sunni
Arab groups and also poses a risk for Kurdish
interests in the town of Afrin and elsewhere.
Noah Bonsey, senior analyst on Syria at the
International Crisis Group, said there was
"potential value added" in military cooperation
between the Kurds and moderate Sunni Arabs against
Islamic State.
"The most obvious test case for this is Aleppo
because the stakes are very high for everyone
involved," he said. "There are plenty of shared
interests there, and there are some local
relationships that exist. But those relationships
would have to develop significantly to enable
meaningful coordination."
By Tom Perry - Reuters
Regions and cities names in Kurdish may have been changed or added to
the article by Ekurd.net
Copyright ©, respective author or news agency,
Reuters
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