Experts: Do Turkish interventions complicate Damascus and "SDF" negotiations?

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

**Arab Sea - Follow-ups:** **Two experts believe that understanding between Damascus and the Kurds seems complicated, and that the clear contradiction between the media escalation and the exchange of accusations on the one hand, and the continuation of unannounced talks on the other, reflects the complex nature of the relationship between the Kurdish forces and Turkey, where each party is playing a "double game" based on a strict public discourse targeting its internal and regional audience.** **Mahmoud Alloush, a specialist in Turkish affairs, said that the path of negotiations between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus faces great complications, pointing out that the United States is trying to push this path, but it has not yet exerted the necessary pressure on the SDF to push towards a merger agreement.** **Alloush added that the SDF file is not only linked to the nature of the relationship between it and Damascus, or even through the American factor in this matter, as a set of complex factors intersect in this file, from regional and international interventions in Syria, as well as external interference in Suwayda, which has complicated efforts for a merger agreement.** **He pointed out that the SDF is still trying to buy more time to prolong the negotiation period and to impose its perceptions on the Syrian state regarding this process, ruling out the existence of indicators of movement in this path, but the United States is trying to push towards moving this path in order to preserve the merger agreement and also to avoid a military escalation, especially since Turkey has recently begun to hint at the possibility of resorting to alternative options if the SDF continues to refuse to abide by this agreement.** **Alloush explained that a political settlement of the SDF file is the best option for all parties concerned with this issue, with the exception of Israel, which wants to keep the SDF file frozen and unresolved on the table for purposes related to its perceptions of Syria and fueling the conflict between what is called minorities and the state in Syria.** **Political researcher Ibrahim Kaban said that the ongoing negotiation process between the forces under the table is accompanied by a kind of media mudslinging in public, pointing out that the process of communication and negotiation between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Turkish state is ongoing, whether through Damascus or through the United States.** **Kaban added that Turkey will initially present itself in the coming period as sponsoring this rapprochement between the "SDF" and Damascus, provided that the interest of Turkish national security and the Turkish interest in general are at the top of the list, while the United States' role is to create this kind of rapprochement between the "SDF" forces and Turkey.** **He stressed that the Kurdish and Turkish sides are waiting for developments in the Kurdish-Turkish situation inside Turkey, indicating that this type of negotiation requires a long time, some secrecy, and a kind of use of tactics for each party, in addition to the pressures exerted by Turkey.** **He pointed out that the United States relies on a "pressure mechanism" in the negotiation process between the two parties, where it sometimes puts pressure on Damascus, and sometimes on the SDF, and the goal of this American strategy is to create a kind of balance and calm in dealing with the two parties.** **Kaban explained that the Turkish role revolves around the process of disarming the Kurds of forces and weapons, and the two parties may have an interest in having some kind of political administrations in exchange for ending the military file, but this issue requires a long time and calm to reach solutions, according to him.**