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SYRIAN REBELS, KURDISH MILITIA SIGN CEASEFIRE
February 20, 2013 - 21:33 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian rebels and a Kurdish militia that have
fought each other for months in a town near the Turkish border have
signed a ceasefire, averting the prospect of an Arab-Kurd conflict,
Reuters reported.
Syria's Kurds have exploited the civil war between forces loyal to
President Bashar al-Assad and rebels fighting to oust him by asserting
control in parts of the northeast, which have been spared the worst
of the violence.
But the relative calm was shattered last November when mainly Sunni
Muslim Arab rebels overran the ethnically mixed Syrian town of Ras
al-Ain and Assad's airforce bombed it in the days that followed.
Until a deal was struck earlier this week, Kurdish fighters known
as Popular Protection Units (YPG) had been battling to drive out
insurgents from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), opening another front in
Syria's near two year civil war.
Previous efforts to broker a truce repeatedly fell through.
"They were forced to sign an agreement to withdraw from the town,"
said YPG spokesman Khabat Ibrahim, who was present at the ceasefire
signing ceremony. "If the FSA respects us, we can join with them to
liberate towns still under Assad's control".
The YPG says it has no political affiliations, but analysts say it
has close ties to the PKK.
Rebels accuse Syrian Kurdish parties aligned with the PKK of colluding
with Assad in return for him leaving them to their own devices and
keeping out the FSA. That also serves Assad's interests by unnerving
Turkey.
February 20, 2013 - 21:33 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian rebels and a Kurdish militia that have
fought each other for months in a town near the Turkish border have
signed a ceasefire, averting the prospect of an Arab-Kurd conflict,
Reuters reported.
Syria's Kurds have exploited the civil war between forces loyal to
President Bashar al-Assad and rebels fighting to oust him by asserting
control in parts of the northeast, which have been spared the worst
of the violence.
But the relative calm was shattered last November when mainly Sunni
Muslim Arab rebels overran the ethnically mixed Syrian town of Ras
al-Ain and Assad's airforce bombed it in the days that followed.
Until a deal was struck earlier this week, Kurdish fighters known
as Popular Protection Units (YPG) had been battling to drive out
insurgents from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), opening another front in
Syria's near two year civil war.
Previous efforts to broker a truce repeatedly fell through.
"They were forced to sign an agreement to withdraw from the town,"
said YPG spokesman Khabat Ibrahim, who was present at the ceasefire
signing ceremony. "If the FSA respects us, we can join with them to
liberate towns still under Assad's control".
The YPG says it has no political affiliations, but analysts say it
has close ties to the PKK.
Rebels accuse Syrian Kurdish parties aligned with the PKK of colluding
with Assad in return for him leaving them to their own devices and
keeping out the FSA. That also serves Assad's interests by unnerving
Turkey.