Escalating tension between Russia and Turkey will reach a new high when the Democratic Union party (PYD), the leading Kurdish political organisation in north-eastern Syria, which Ankara regards as a terrorist group, opens a representative office in Moscow on Wednesday at Vladimir Putin’s personal invitation.
The development comes amid a dangerous tug-of-war between Russia and the US for power and influence in strategic areas along the Turkey-Syria border. Washington backs the Syrian Kurds in fighting Islamic State (Isis) jihadis. Moscow’s priority is to thwart western-backed efforts to topple Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime.
Turkey is caught in the middle. Its biggest fear is that the PYD could establish autonomous control over large areas of northern Syria, linking up with independent Iraqi Kurdistan and encouraging Turkey’s alienated ethnic Kurdish population to follow suit.
No comments:
Post a Comment