None of that is to say the Kurds wouldn’t like continued American support or that there’s no basis for them to worry. But as an insurance policy, the Syrian Kurds have maintained a working relationship with Assad, whose family has in the past alternately cooperated with and double-crossed the PKK depending on its feelings about Turkey at the time. Moscow has not yet approved a suggestion from the Kurds to officially reintegrate the areas under their control into Assad’s Syria and therefore under his protection. American Assurances Working with the U.S. from 2014 made the Kurds both more powerful and more vulnerable. Turkey became increasingly paranoid as the Kurds’ influence grew, and negotiations between Erdogan and the PKK broke down in 2015, leading to a massive Turkish military operation against the Kurds’ heartland in the country.

Source: Huffington Post January 21, 2019 17:58 UTC