Russia-Turkey Deal Shatters Syrian Kurd Dreams Of Self-Rule

(Yahoo! News) Jean-Marc Mojon October 23 2019 Beirut - A Turkish-Russian deal signed in the Black Sea resort of Sochi that carves up northeastern Syria sounds the death knell for Kurdish autonomy analysts say. Syrias Kurds had hoped that the sacrifices made in the name of the international community to help crush the Islamic State groups caliphate would pay off. But instead of supporting their political project the United States is pulling out of Syria altogether ruining the minoritys aspirations for more autonomy. The Sochi agreement defines the contours of the debacle for the Kurdish forces who still controlled close to a third of Syria two weeks ago and have now lost almost everything. For the Kurds this is the end of Rojava of their dreams of autonomy is how Fabrice Balanche a geographer specialized in Syrian affairs summed it up. The fate of Rojava -- the name Kurds give to their region -- was sealed in a handshake late Tuesday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Turkey was granted the right to remain fully deployed in an Arab-majority area it has dubbed a safe zone that was the main target of an offensive it launched on October 9.