"If there will be Turkey involved with Syria and others to find a solution to end the miseries of the people, then it is most welcome. But if there is no mutual understanding between Turkey and Syria, between Russia and Turkey, and Turkey and Iran, and Iran and Syria, with taking into consideration the concerns of the Kurds on the ground, then it's a recipe for further destabilization and confrontation," Hemin Hawrami, who used to be a senior assistant to Iraqi Kurdistan's ex-President Massoud Barzani, said during Valdai Discussion Club’s Middle East Conference when asked if such a deal between YPG and Damascus can be a way out.
He stressed that for the Kurds, any solution which would protect the life of the Kurds and other citizens in Syria would be a beginning to bring violence to an end.
"YPG and those who represent the Kurds in Syria should not be following any agenda that is not Kurdish agenda, in order to protect their own area, to be part of the solution and not to be part of the games that the major powers are making, like proxy wars on the ground in Syria. The Kurds should stay united in Syria and have their own agenda in talking with Assad, and in talking with Turkey," Hawrami stated.
The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) claimed that the militia and Damascus have entered into a deal to be on one side against Turkey in Afrin, with the Syrian forces expected to enter the region any time soon. On Monday, Syrian state media reported that pro-government militias are about to enter Afrin to support local forces in the fight against the Turkish army.
READ MORE: US Actions Toward Kurds in Syria Look Like Deliberate Provocation — Lavrov
On January 20, Ankara launched Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, in pursuit of "clearing" the Turkish border with Syria from the terrorist threat. Turkish authorities consider the YPG to be linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
Damascus has firmly condemned the operation as an assault on Syria's sovereignty. Moscow, in turn, has urged all the parties to exercise restraint and called for respect of Syria's territorial integrity.
