Skip to main content

Border Arrests Reveal Disunity, Conflict Among Syrian Kurds

The Democratic Union Party's security forces have arrested 70 members of a rival Kurdish party trying to enter Syria from Iraq.
A general view shot on July 23, 2012 shows portraits of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his late father and predecessor, Hafez al-Assad (back), at the al-Yaroubiya border crossing between Syria and Iraq, close the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Syrian citizens are fleeing to neighboring countries including Iraq,  Lebanon and Turkey as fighting between Syrian government forces and Free Syria Army rebels intensifies. AFP PHOTO/STR        (Photo credit should read -/AFP/GettyImages)

Tensions erupted again between rival Kurdish parties in Syria supported by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) of Turkey and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Iraq on Saturday, May 18, when the security forces of the PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD) arrested 74 members of the KDP-supported Democratic Party of Syria.

The 74 members reportedly underwent training in the camps controlled by the KDP in Iraq, before sneaking into Syria from Iraq. After the arrest, the KDP reportedly closed down the parts of the border near the Tigris River at the Faysh Khabur border crossing east of Al-Malikayah (Derik) in Syria.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.