As conditions shift in Syria, Kurds open to talks with Damascus
Factors pushing Syrian Kurds to consider negotiating with the Syrian government include their loss of Afrin and the US-Turkey accord on Manbij.
Actions by the United States, Turkey and Russia could be driving Kurds into the awkward embrace of the Syrian regime.
First, Russia gave the green light in January for Turkey's Operation Olive Branch against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin, Syria. (Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist-affiliated group.) Then earlier this month, the United States and Turkey agreed on a plan for the future of Syria's Manbij, a city the YPG controlled until recently. That future doesn't include the YPG, which had helped a US-led coalition's efforts to drive the Islamic State (IS) out of Syria.
