Syria Ready to Welcome Kurds Back under Its Protection

By Staff, Agencies

Damascus is ready to welcome Syria's Kurds back into the fold after Washington left them to face Turkish military threats alone, a senior official said in comments published Tuesday.

"We will defend all Syrian territory, and we will not accept any occupation of Syrian land," Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told al-Watan newspaper.

The official said Kurdish groups have been "tossed aside" by Washington, after US President Donald Trump on Monday gave Turkey a green light to press ahead with its planned military operation. 

While the scale of the withdrawal is currently unclear, this still puts Kurds into a dangerous position, left without a major ally in the face of potential Turkish aggression.

This has apparently prompted Damascus to tacitly offer the Syrian Kurds a lifeline.

In the early years of the Syrian crisis, the Kurds were able to gain a strong grip over Syria's northeast, establishing their own institutions and holding back the Wahhabi Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] offensive in 2014.

Damascus has repeatedly slammed the Turkish and American presence within its borders, seeing it as a violation of its sovereignty.