Syrian Kurdish groups influenced by jailed militant Ocalan

Abdullah Ocalan, the Kurdish militant leader jailed by Turkey who called on Thursday for his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to dissolve and all groups to lay down arms, is an influential figure among the main Kurdish groups in northeastern Syria.

Turkey hopes the statement will pave the way for Ocalan’s outlawed PKK to disarm, potentially ending the insurgency it has been waging against the Turkish state since 1984 and in which 40,000 people have been killed.

Here’s a primer on Syria’s main Kurdish groups and their PKK ties.

BORN IN CIVIL WAR

After the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, a Kurdish armed group – the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – established control over Kurdish areas of northern Syria, along with its political affiliate, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

The YPG has a female counterpart, the YPJ.

Turkey sees the YPG as indistinguishable from the PKK.

The Syrian Kurdish groups established a system of governance shaped by Ocalan’s ideas in Kurdish-majority regions of the north.

The YPG’s influence expanded as it allied with the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State (IS), becoming the spearhead of a broader group, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which played a key role fighting the jihadists across Syria.

The United States still has forces in eastern and northeastern Syria as part of the mission to counter IS.

As Islamic State retreated, the area of SDF control grew, and now accounts for around one quarter of Syria, including oil fields and several mostly Arab areas.

CONFLICT WITH TURKEY

Wary of separatism, Turkey has seen YPG’s foothold in Syria as a national security threat. Turkey’s Kurdish minority, amounting to 15-20% of its total population of around 85 million, mostly live in areas bordering Syria.

Aided by Syrian Arab armed groups, Turkey mounted several major incursions into northern Syria beginning in 2016, bringing large areas under its control, including the Afrin region, which was previously held by the YPG.

The conflict between the SDF and the Turkey-backed groups has continued since Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power in December.

SDF leader Mazloum Abdi in December confirmed for the first time that PKK fighters had come to Syria to support his forces during the Syrian conflict. In an interview with Reuters, he said non-Syrian Kurdish fighters would leave the country if a total ceasefire was reached in the conflict with Turkey.

The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Western states, including Turkey’s NATO allies, do not view the YPG as a terrorist group. U.S. support for the SDF has been a source of tension with Turkey for years.

TENSION WITH DAMASCUS

Prior to the war, the Kurds faced systematic persecution by the Assad-led state, which espoused an Arab nationalist ideology known as Baathism. Despite this, the YPG and the Assad-led government stayed out of each other’s way for much of the conflict, notwithstanding occasional clashes.

Kurdish leaders have long said their aim is regional decentralisation within Syria, not independence. The Assad-led government rejected their autonomy demands, even when its authority had been greatly diminished by the war.

The new Damascus administration, which is led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and has good ties with Turkey, aims to bring all Syria back under state authority, and says the government should have a monopoly on arms.

SDF commander Abdi has expressed a willingness for his forces to be part of the new defence ministry, but he has said they should join as a bloc rather than individuals – an idea rejected by the new government.

Neither the SDF nor the Kurdish-led administration was invited to a national dialogue conference convened in Damascus on Feb. 25. The Kurdish-led administration said the conference did not represent Syrians. (Reuters)