Andrew Sage

in Turkey.

So they launched several military operations to prevent the Kurdish regions from linking up and having territorial continuity within Syria.

At the same time, Rojava faced economic blockades, restricted movement, and strained relations with their fellow Kurdish political groups in Iraq that were aligned with Turkey and aligned with the PYD's political rivals, which had lost influence since the establishment of Rojava.

Then you also had the occasional alignments with Russia as a strategic leverage against Turkey, and similar coincidences of interest with the governments of Iraq and Iran.

And even cooperation between Rojava and Assad's government.

It's interesting to me that the US alignment is what receives the most attention when it seems to me that Rojava had quite a roster of affiliations of convenience.

Not to say that those partnerships or affiliations necessarily benefited them in the long run,

But it's important to place those affiliations in context.

Rojava has been seen and treated as a chess piece, essentially, by both global and regional powers as they attempt to put out a voice of their own and eke out their own autonomy.

So just before the 2019 Turkish invasion, the US abandoned Rojava entirely.

withdrawing its troops, and suddenly leading to the tragic fall of several settlements to Turkey and Turkish alliance groups.

However, that move to withdraw also raised the international profile of the Rojava struggle, as people on both sides of the political spectrum were pointing out this American decision to abandon its allies in the Middle East.

So before we get to the fall of Assad, is there anything critical that you'd say I missed?

Yeah that's an important event that I didn't come across in my research but thank you for sharing.

So I suppose we are now approaching the critical moment in Rojava's recent history.

Assad's government collapsed at the end of 2024.

and the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HDS, an Islamist militia with roots in Al-Qaeda, stepped into the vacuum and rapidly took control of large parts of the country.

Then-HDS leader Ahmed al-Shara was recast on the international stage as Syria's new president, welcomed by regional and western powers, received in diplomatic capitals, and rewarded with the lifting of many sanctions.

Turkey emerged as the strongest backer, as they were pretty cold with Assad, and they aggressively lobbied on behalf of the HDS government, reframing it as a stabilizing partner.

And not long after the fall of Assad, in fact, Abdullah Öcalan himself called for the PKK to disarm.