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Although the clashes were widely reported, there has been hardly any in-depth coverage on how the fighting was perceived by Kurds themselves. Mustafa, a Kurdish activist affiliated with the PYD, supports the SDF move as a necessary step to connect the two autonomous Kurdish cantons in Aleppo, Afrin and Kobane. He argues: “Afrin was besieged more than once by Al-Nusra Front and other groups based in Azaz after they failed to occupy it. Therefore, our only hope is to connect Afrin to other Kurdish areas so they cannot besiege us in the future.”
Although other Kurds share Mustafa’s concerns regarding the threat from extremist groups, they disagree with him on how to overcome that insecurity. Aziz, a Kurdish activist from Afrin, believes that Kurds will only feel safe when they have healthy relations with other communities in Syria. “I don’t think that we will be safe if we counter the discrimination we shared with other Syrians under Assad’s rule with another discrimination against other communities who are fighting for the same cause,” the activist said. “I will only feel safe when I know that my neighbor has my back and he sees me as a friend, not as an enemy.” Those who share these views disagree with SDF attacks on opposition, arguing that securing those areas will prove more difficult than seizing them, which could lead to a drawn-out conflict with Arab armed groups.
Moreover, other Kurdish activists blamed the PYD for the current situation. Zara, a Kurdish human rights activist, referred to the alleged agreement between the PYD and the Syrian regime that allowed the former to control Kurdish areas in order to prevent them from joining the revolution against the regime. "The PYD’s affiliation with the Syrian regime made opposition groups suspicious of Kurdish intentions, which allowed opportunists to take advantage of that suspicion to attack Kurdish areas,” Zara argued. It is also not clear for Zara what the U.S. is trying to achieve by supporting groups inside Syria and allowing them to fight each other instead of focusing on fighting ISIS. “I don’t understand the US strategy in Syria,” the human right activist stated. “They arm the SDF and other opposition groups to fight ISIS. Nevertheless, when these groups start fighting each other, the US does nothing to stop them, which makes things worse.”
full: https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/566773-how-do-syrian-kurds-view-attacks-on-opposition-areas
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