The predominantly Kurdish US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have skirmished in recent weeks with Syrian government troops, putting the SDF on defense, politically and militarily.

For the Kurds, the decision for limited military coordination with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in October 2019 was a desperate hedge after Turkey, including Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups, launched Operation Peace Spring and seized over 1,800 square miles of mostly Kurdish-administered towns.

The SDF is made up primarily of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the gendarmerie of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the leading political party in Kurdish-administered regions in Syria. Turkey considers the PYD/YPG a terrorist group linked to the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and therefore on a par with the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Both Turkey and the United States consider the PKK a terrorist group, but the United States does not share Turkey’s view on the PYD/YPG/SDF. The SDF has been the US on-the-ground partner in the military campaign against the Islamic State in Syria. 

Assad now senses an advantage to press the Kurds for further concessions, with both an assist from Moscow and the concurrence of Ankara.