Pompeo, again, affirms continued support for Syria’s Kurds
Youssef also explained that Syria’s Kurds “for their own security” are talking with the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
That, indeed, is what Moscow wants to see. When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited there on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that it was important to restore Syria’s territorial integrity, while he advocated a Kurdish dialogue with the regime.
The Trump administration, however, does not want that to happen as it sees the conclusion of any such understanding as a victory for Damascus, Moscow, and Tehran.
At the same time, Youssef explained, it is unclear how the current situation will ultimately develop.
“Turkey is still working out what it’s going to do,” she said. The US is still working out its role, while “the Kurds are still trying to work out what agreements they can make on the ground to address the possible threats.”
“The Kurds are well-thought of in America,” Sen. Lindsey Graham told Turkish broadcaster TRT World, on a visit to Ankara last week, and Youseff’s remarks reflect that empathy.
Paul Davis, a former Pentagon analyst and currently a Senior Fellow at Soran University, echoed her view. Speaking to Kurdistan 24, Davis noted that the high-profile resignations of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and then of Special Presidential Envoy to the Coalition against the Islamic State, Brett McGurk, highlighted the dangers to Syria’s Kurds, even as Davis thought McGurk’s role in Iraq, where he was known as “Mr. Dawa” for accommodating pro-Iranian groups, had been negative.
Similarly, Jerome Gordon, Senior Editor of “The New English Review” and co-host of a program on Israel News Talk Radio, a Fox News Radio Affiliate, advised Kurdistan 24 that “the international community must accept the fact that Iraq and Syria are failed states.”
“The Kurds and other minorities should be allowed to form federations to create zones of safety, promote democracy and prevent more refugees from being displaced and radicalized,” Gordon said.
Editing by Nadia Riva