Kurdish forces trying to fend off a Turkish military offensive in northern Syria are in the awkward position of demanding help from the government they want greater autonomy from.
The self-proclaimed Kurdish administration has urged the forces of president Bashar Al Assad to protect their enclave of Afrin, which Turkish forces, assisted by Syrian rebels, attacked on January 20.
The minority, which achieved increased autonomy on the back of Syria's seven-year-old conflict, rejected Damascus's condition of a return of federal security forces and institutions in their region.
Such moves would bring an end to Kurdish control over Afrin, one of the three regions in Rojava, the administration unilaterally proclaimed over the Kurds' Syrian heartland which runs along the Turkish border.
"The Kurds always wanted good relations" with the government, said Kurdish affairs specialist Mutlu Civiroglu, stressing that the minority never pursued fully-fledged independence.
"But they don't want to go back to the situation before the war, when they didn't really exist, they didn't have any rights," the analyst said of the Kurds, who account for about 15 per cent of Syria's population.
Long oppressed by Damascus, the Kurds took advantage of the escalation of a conflict that began in 2011 with nationwide opposition protests to secure de facto autonomy over Syria's northern regions.
They brought the long-banned Kurdish language back to schools, set up their own security apparatus, which includes a militia called the People's Protection Units (YPG) that acts as an army.
The force, which has close ties to Turkey's own Kurdish rebellion, emerged as a major player in the war against ISIL and a partner of choice for the US-led coalition.
The Turkish assault on Afrin has exposed the ambivalence of the relationship between the Kurds and Mr Al Assad, who does not regard the minority as a direct threat but resents their emancipation.
Turkey considers the YPG to be a terrorist group and fears the empowerment of Syria's Kurds could be contagious.
At least 67 civilians and 85 YPG fighters have been killed in 10 days of Turkish strikes and shelling on Afrin, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Britain-based monitoring group and Kurdish sources said on Tuesday that Ankara had stepped up its air strikes. But despite this, the Kurds still reject the idea of handing the region back.
Instead, they have asked for the deployment of federal Syrian forces along the border with Turkey.
The Kurdish proposal provides for "the return of Syrian border guards and the raising of the Syrian flag at the border to reassure the Turks", said Ahed Al Hendi, a senior adviser to the Kurdish administration.
"The Kurdish defence, police and security forces would be maintained," said Mr Hendi, a member of the Syrian Democratic Forces, of which the YPG is the backbone.
"Surrendering Afrin to the Syrian regime, that's impossible," he said, adding however that the government has yet to give a formal reply.
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On Thursday, the self-governed region of Afrin had urged Damascus to enforce sovereignty over its borders and prevent Turkish jets from violating Syrian airspace.
So far, Damascus has only condemned the Afrin assault as a "brutal Turkish aggression".
Bassam Abou Abdallah, who heads the Damascus Centre for Strategic Studies, argued the Kurds could not have their cake and eat it.
"The Kurds should take responsibility for what they have done … the Syrian state is not at their service and can't just be called when you need it," he said.
Before the offensive on Afrin, Russian forces that had been stationed in the area and trained YPG units withdrew, sparking accusations that Moscow had sanctioned Ankara's operation.
Kurdish officials have said that Moscow had offered them protection against Turkey if they relinquished their territory to the Syrian government and that Russia pulled its air support when they refused.
Some analysts argued that Damascus was allowing Turkey to conduct military operations on its soil because a few more days of Kurdish losses would serve its interests.
"Maybe they want Kurdish forces further weakened," Mr Civiroglu said.
"This might force them to agree to their demands."
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Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Boston%20Strangler
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UK-EU trade at a glance
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Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
Range: 450km
Price: Dh601,800
On sale: now
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
