SDF forces in Raqqa city on October 17. Photo courtesy of Euphrates Wrath.
Reuters: Assad sets sights on Kurdish areas, risking new Syria conflict
BEIRUT (Reuters) - With Islamic State near defeat in Syria, Damascus is setting its sights on territory held by Kurdish-led forces including eastern oil fields, risking a new confrontation that could draw the United States in more deeply and complicate Russian diplomacy.
President Bashar al-Assad and his Iranian allies appear to have been emboldened by events in Iraq, where Kurdish authorities have suffered a major blow since regional states mobilised against their independence referendum, analysts say.
Rivalry between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by the United States, and the Syrian government backed by Iran and Russia is emerging as a fault line with their common enemy - Islamic State - close to collapse in Syria.
Syria’s main Kurdish groups hope for a new phase of negotiations that will shore up their autonomy in northern Syria. Assad’s government, however, is asserting its claim to areas captured by the SDF from the jihadist group, known in Arabic by its enemies as Daesh, in more forceful terms.
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WNU Editor: The SDF (Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces) are already setting their terms .... After victories against Islamic State, SDF redefines its role (Syria Direct). The Russians are also trying to defuse the situation .... Russia invites Syrian Kurds to people's congress: Kurdish official (Reuters). But the quick defeat of Kurdish forces in Iraq must be emboldening both Syria and Iran that they could do the same thing in Syria. I say this is a mistake. In Iraq, the Baghdad government was (and is) more important to U.S. long term strategic interests than the Iraqi Kurds .... hence the U.S. stayed quiet. But in Syria the dynamics is different, starting with the simple fact that both Syria and Iran are not allies of the U.S. while the Syrian Kurds have proven to be very reliable and loyal to U.S. interests. The key is Russia, and do they have the influence to temper the desire of both the Syrian government and Iran to start another war. My gut says yes .... and we should know the answer in the coming months.
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