The region’s Kurdish problem
in Syria as long as the chief target is Daesh. But Kurdish forces have gone beyond plan, taking over cities and swathes of Syrian and Iraqi land. Sensing danger of Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) movements, Turkey made the decision to move into Syria for the first time since the eruption of crisis. One cannot overlook the serious threats entailed by the Syrian civil war and posed against all neighboring countries. Sharing the longest borderline with the war-torn country, Turkey is the country mainly affected by the crisis.
After Turkey, Iraq is vastly affected by the Syrian war; especially that it had long lost control over its borders. Iraq has also lost a third of its land to Daesh. As for Jordan, despite implementing full border control, over a million Syrian refugees have crossed over. Turkey has seen an imminent threat against its country’s unity, based on which Ankara has stepped into Syria to track down and neutralize threats posed by Kurdish militias.
The swift victory achieved by the Turkish Army in Jarabulus, a Syrian city administratively belonging to Aleppo Governorate, might lead to an agreement, which restricts Kurdish militants in Syria and ends future plan on establishing another separatist state for Kurds, similar to what is showcased by Iraqi Kurdistan.
Iraqi Kurdistan has been partially independent since 1990. Despite the Syrian regime head Bashar Assad and Turkey long haring animosity, the two have found common ground in rejecting any establishment of a Kurdish independent state in Syria. Ankara sees such a development as a direct threat to its security. A Kurdish independent region in Syria would be a backbone aiding Turkey’s separatist Kurdish movement. As for Assad’s case, a Kurdish expansion might be a Trojan horse playing the US-led international coalition’s bidding in ousting him and pushing forward with the plot for Syria’s transformation. A similar scheme was used in Iraq, as the Iraqi Kurdistan state played a chief role in toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime.
In my opinion, Turkey could have strangled the monster in the crib with an early intervention and full border control. Had Turkey gained some control in a great neighboring Syrian governorate such as Aleppo, it could have influenced the conflict’s outcome and mitigated any threat. One must also account for other potential obstacles, bound by NATO, Turkey’s intervention in any war which is not approved by the body would leave it standing alone and uncovered. Not to mention the consequences of breaking international laws.
A question surfaces as current developments take place, can Turkey with its recent military intervention bring all conflicting parties in Syria to a political solution, and end the war? Now that it has become a greater influence. Nonetheless, Iranian and Russian cooperation is still a difficult reach. The two blocs do not feel that Assad’s leave is a necessity for resolution.
Any solution that keeps Assad in power will only add to the conflict, even if politicians concede.
Assad is viewed by his people as an authoritarian and he has lost any effective Syrian support. Fighting Assad’s battles now are foreign militias. Even if the political leadership of the Syrian opposition approves Assad’s stay, opposition fighters will still rebel against him.