Pressure mounting on Syrian Kurds after Aleppo, HDP spokesman says

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--  The Syrian government has told the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) to retreat from areas east of the city of Aleppo in what Turkey's Kurds see as part of a deal between Damascus and Ankara.

 

Spokesperson of Turkey's pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) Ayaan Bilgen told Rudaw the move to expel Kurdish forces from east of Aleppo was expected after Syrian and Turkish representatives had "shown interest" in meeting and mending relations between the two countries.

 

"Put in very simple terms, I think Turkey believes it did not gain anything in Syria, so why should the Kurds," Bilgen said at a press conference in Ankara Friday.

 

Bilgen, whose entire HDP leadership was detained in November and could face long prison terms in Turkey, said Syrian officials had already confirmed meetings between the two countries despite Ankara's denial.

 

"But even so, I find it difficult for Syria to make a comeback and assert itself on the regional stage as a united country and as if nothing had happened over the past 6 years," Bilgen said. "Kurds will remain a force in Syria despite the pressures."

 

Based mainly in Shekh Maqsoud district in Aleppo since late 2015, the Kurdish forces entered the city as partners of the Western-backed Syrian Free Army (FSA), an armed opposition military now in disarray after regime takeover of Aleppo, Syria's second largest city.

 

The government forces have rarely engaged in clashes against the Kurdish forces in Syria despite YPG's persistent collaboration with anti-regime groups and the US-led international coalition against ISIS.

 

An implicit deal between the government and YPG units left large parts of the Kurdish territories in north and eastern corners of Syria in the hands of the Kurdish forces who successfully blocked further ISIS advance eastwards.

 

Turkey radically altered its position regarding the YPG which is the military wing of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as ties between the group and Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) developed over the past years.

 

The Turkish military announced in late October that its jets hit YPG targets in northern Syria, and killed up to 200 fighters, according to state media. The YPG put the death toll at 10 later.

 

"It appears that large parts of the Kurdish populated areas will in the future face direct threats. To support this, Turkey is likely to withdraw from many areas," Bilgen said. "The pressure might be expected everywhere Kurds live not just the Kurdish-controlled areas in the east," Bilgen added.