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Syriac Christians, Kurds Boost Cooperation in Syria

A shared desire to remain neutral in Syria links the political parties of the Assyrian Christian and Kurdish minorities despite government encouragement of sectarian security branches.
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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QAMISHLI – Over the last months the Syrian government has encouraged the activities of ethnonationalist parties and the formation of sectarian security branches, such as the Kurdish Asayish and the Syriac/Assyrian Christian Sutoro. These ethnic minorities immediately took the chance to voice their demands, but some of their representatives remain wary of the regime's intention to preserve its political leverage.

Syriacs and Kurds shared similar grievances under the thumb of Baathist pan-Arabism, and the recent rebellion has prompted their political parties to strike an unwritten alliance to maintain their distance from the regime as well as the opposition. The backlash of this decision, however, could be the further entrenchment of sectarian divisions, thus serving the regime's interest in keeping minorities away from the opposition by bestowing concessions upon them.

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