Kurds Could Help Shift Course Of War In Syria -- Reuters
(Reuters) - The head of Turkey's main Kurdish party has welcomed contacts between the Ankara government and Syria's Kurds, saying it could step up pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and help change the course of the civil war,
Turkish intelligence officers met in Istanbul last week with Saleh Muslim, head of Syria's Democratic Union Party (PYD), a Kurdish group whose militias have been fighting for control of parts of Syria's north near the Turkish border.
The meeting followed Muslim's declaration that Kurdish groups would set up an independent council to run Kurdish areas of Syria until the war ends. Ankara fears that kind of autonomy could rekindle separatist sentiment among its own, much larger Kurdish population as it seeks to end a 30-year-old insurgency.
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My Comment: If these reports are true, it indicates a major shift from Turkey on how it now perceives the Kurdish community. More to the point .... they see the Kurdish community in Syria more as an ally .... and not as an enemy .... even though concerns on Kurdish autonomy are still being raised from Ankara. As to having an impact on Syria's civil war .... I just do not see the Kurds having the numbers and the means to do so. They are a small minority in Syria .... albeit an influential one. What will have an impact is if the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq become more involved in the Syrian conflict .... but for the moment .... they are not interested in committing their militias and armed forces to the conflict.
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