ERBIL, Iraq — The recent declaration of a federal structure in northern Syria by the local Kurdish administration and its Arab and Assyrian allies is likely to put the Syrian Kurds further at odds with neighboring Turkey, as it will pose serious challenges to Ankara amid renewed conflict with its own Kurds.
The announcement of the Federal Democratic System of Rojava and Northern Syria on March 17 by the dominant Kurdish group, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and other groups in the area, coincided with a new round of peace talks between the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and armed opposition groups in Geneva. The PYD has been excluded from the talks at the behest of Turkey and opposition groups that view the Kurdish group with suspicion, due to presumed links with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and perceived cooperation with Assad’s regime. The PYD has denied these charges.
