In this Feb. 22, 2019 file photo, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighters stand guard next to men waiting to be screened after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Daesh militants, near Baghouz, eastern Syria. (AP/Felipe Dana/File)
Mainstream media outlets and officials from the US-backed, self-proclaimed Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria have found a side to blame for their failure to reach a ‘good deal’ with the Damascus government.
On April 12, The New York Times released remarks by Badran Jia Kurd, who was described by the report as “a Syrian Kurdish official involved in the political track, said the talks [with Damascus] had gone nowhere.”
“The Russians froze the initiative which Russia was supposed to carry out and it did not begin negotiations with Damascus,” he said. “Russia is still claiming that it is working on that initiative but to no avail.”
The New York Times report says further:
Unlike the insurgent groups that have fought Assad across much of Syria, the main Syrian Kurdish groups are not hostile to him and say their objective is to preserve autonomy within the state.
But Damascus opposes the level of autonomy they seek. The Syrian defense minister last month said the state would take back the Kurdish led-region by force if its leaders did not submit to the return of state authority.
The presence of U.S. forces has provided the Kurdish-led region with a de facto security umbrella that has shielded it from Assad and neighboring Turkey, which views the main Syrian Kurdish groups as a security threat.
Jia Kurd said Russia had put its interests with Turkey ahead of pressing for a deal between Damascus.
Russia had “not played its role after meeting the Turkish side many times and this is what led to the blocking of the path of dialogue with Damascus and Russia bears the historic responsibility,” he said.
This report highlights the tendency, which has been strengthening within mainstream media outlets and in statements of US-backed forces in northeastern Syria. The main idea of these claims and reports is that it’s the Damascus government and Russia to blame for the current crisis in the part of the country controlled by US proxies because they do not want to accept the “democracy” there. However, these reports often forgot to mention that the Kurdish aministration is in fact demanding Damascus to allow a de-facto independent state with own armed (security) forces in this area and even fund this state. In turn, “democratic forces” would formally allow Syria to raise some flags over some government buildings.
A brief look at the ongoing negotiating process:
