Syrian regime wants YPG to evacuate the north, Aleppo neighborhood

As the Assad regime gains the upper hand in the five-year-long civil war in Syria with the Russian intervention in September 2015, culminating in the recent defeat of the opposition in Aleppo, they now want the PKK-linked Kurdish militia to give up control of areas bordering Turkey.



"The government had entrusted the PYD with these areas and now the government wants them back. Their [PYD's] work in confronting the terrorists has been completed," General Haitham Hassoun of the regime army told the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) based Rudaw news agency, although he refrained from giving an exact time frame.

Regime forces had withdrawn from Syria's predominantly-Kurdish northeastern parts in 2011, leaving control to the PYD, the Syrian wing of PKK terrorist organization, while its armed forces inherited a large cache of weapons, ammunition and facilities that were left behind by regime forces.

Hassoun claimed that he personally followed up the military aid sent by the regime to YPG, the armed wing of the PYD.

Despite clashes between the regime forces and YPG for limited periods in 2012 and 2016, the two parties largely avoided confronting each other. Previous reports suggested that some regime institutions continue to operate in PYD-controlled areas, whereas regime forces continue to control enclaves in Hasakah and Qamishli, the largest cities in Syria's northeast.

This uneasy alliance was primarily due to the fact that the regime needed its troops elsewhere in the country. In addition, the PKK had long been an enemy of its northern neighbor Turkey, which is among the active supporters of opposition against Assad's rule.

Earlier in March, the PYD declared autonomy in three "cantons" in northern Syria, namely Afrin in the west, Kobani in the center and Jazira in the east, while these three regions were brought together under an entity titled "Federation of Northern Syria-Rojava." Kobani and Jazira cantons were linked in 2015 after Daesh's defeat in Kobani and subsequent retreat from the predominantly-Arabic town of Tal Abyad, amid protests from Turkey and international rights groups of ethnic cleansing against local Arabs and Turkmens.

A possible move to link Kobani with Afrin - which would give the control in Turkey's nearly entire border with Syria to a hostile force - was stalled by Turkey as it launched Operation Euphrates Shield with Free Syrian Army (FSA) elements on Aug. 24, following the capture of the town of Manbij by YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in mid-August. Turkey has repeatedly warned the SDF to not to cross to the west of Euphrates, and targeted SDF when it moved further into the territory evacuated by Daesh after Turkish-led advance.......http://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2016/12/27/syrian-regime-wants-ypg-to-evacuate-the-north-aleppo-neighborhood
  [dailysabah.com]
 27/12/16