Michael Rubin, a senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Civil-Military Relations and a senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly, told Kurdpress in an interview that the Kurds in northern Syria are being threatened by Turkish attacks and they are better to settle their differences with Damascus rather than surrendering their regions to Turkey.

The Kurds have already expressed their willingness to talk with Damascus as the U.S. has started pulling out its forces from the war-torn state and Turkey has threatened to launch a new assault against the Kurds in the north of Syria.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated on September 19, 2018 that Washington will quit Syria, a decision that was welcomed by Syria and its allies but sparked criticisms by the U.S. allies in Syria, particularly the Kurds.

Trump acted on his instincts which are isolationist. He doesn't grasp the complexity of the situation, and may trust Recep Tayyip Erdogan too much. But all of Trump's advisors understand how bad a withdrawal would be. Daesh isn't defeat, and to trust Turkey to fight Daesh is like trusting an arsonist to put out a fire, Rubin told Kurdpress.

He further added that “the impasse has always been whether Damascus would recognize Kurdish federalism. Frankly, the Syrian government should, given how the Syrian Kurds fought Al Qaeda and Daesh without targeted the Syrian government.”

“True, Syrian Kurds have had real problems with Damascus before, but those problems as real as they are represent a far better choice for Syrian Kurds than subordinating themselves to Erdgan's genocidal intent,” he concluded.

Reporter’s code: 50101