A new era has just started in Syria since the overthrow of Bashar Assad in early December. While HTS (Hayat Tahrir Sham) and SNA (Syrian National Army) have declared to dissolve themselves, PKK’s Syria offshoot YPG rejects dissolvement and continues to exist under the name of SDF, a brand created by America to parry terrorism allegations about the group.
With western and Israeli backing, YPG wants an autonomous state on Syrian territories. However, Türkiye defies this plan and states that it will attack YPG. Türkiye’s concerns are legitimate as YPG is controlled by the PKK and many of its commanders are Turkish Kurds. On the other hand, there is a Kurdish community in Syria, whose existence can not be denied.
Given that Türkiye is a mentor to the new Syrian government, Turkish officials should propose US and EU a plan ignoring YPG for Kurds’ representation. It is obvious that Turkish state has no problem with Kurdish community but YPG. Thus, their goodness is not something that Ankara will reject. On the contrary, it will be happy to preserve Kurdish rights since a large Kurdish population lives in Türkiye.
Under current circumstances, Türkiye and Syrian government can offer western governments another Kurdish political body that other than YPG that will represent Kurds. If the goal of western powers is to protect minorities in Syria, this offer is plausible. However, if their aim is only to legitimize and whitewash YPG, this intention will surface.
YPG is a Marxist terrorist group having links with former Assad regime, Iran and Russia. Such an offer will reveal whether western governments are concerned about Kurds or solely YPG.
