Syria’s Kurds reap benefits of Erdogan’s 'terror free Turkey' as Ankara halts attacks

After years of overt aggression, Turkey has eased its stance on the Kurdish-led entity in northeast Syria, ushering in an unprecedented atmosphere of hope and burgeoning stability. The thaw has allowed Syrian Kurdish leaders to engage with the new Islamist-led government in Damascus and to forge closer ties with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in neighboring Iraq, part of broader policy led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that is aimed at gaining Kurdish electoral support at home and ending a four-decade-long insurgency led by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).  

In a recent interview with Al-Monitor, Mazloum Kobane, the commander in chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the de facto leader of the Kurdish-run area, acknowledged that an undeclared ceasefire with Turkish-backed Sunni Syrian militias was holding and that Ankara had abandoned its hostile rhetoric toward the SDF and its civilian arm known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).  

“This is creating an atmosphere of stability here. This Turkish government is using milder language in its official statements that refer to the region. Terms like 'terrorist' are beginning to be dropped,” he said. 

When France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, informed Ankara that he was planning to meet with Kobane this past Wednesday in Erbil, Turkish officials welcomed the news, according to a source with close knowledge of the deliberations. Until recently, Ankara would have accused Barrot of cavorting with “a terrorist” because of the many years Kobane spent within the ranks of the PKK holding key positions.