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What's brewing between the Kurds, Syrian regime?

The unpredictable winds of war will determine whether the Kurds ever realize their dream of self-government in Syria.
A Kurdish fighter from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) holds his weapon as he takes position atop a building with a YPG flag in Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood, June 7, 2013. Kurdish fighters from the YPG joined the Free Syrian Army to fight against forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Picture taken June 7, 2013. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman  (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX10USX
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Among all the complex alliances and shifting loyalties in Syria, the Kurds seem caught in the middle. Common sentiment is that the Kurds are now at a critical threshold of relations with the Damascus regime, and the outcome could be cooperation or, just as easily, combat.

Much hinges on how the regime reacts to the government models of "democratic autonomy" or "democratic federation" that the Kurds have been advocating and trying to install in western Kurdistan (Rojava).

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