The Russia-US agreement on the Syrian ceasefire has brought up several issues that remain unaddressed. The idea encompasses a great vision for the Middle East but it needs to be developed further and become the foundation of conflict settlement (Almonitor 1). The cessation of hostilities faces many obstacles such as: identifying the terrorist groups in Syria, areas where they should attack and whether Russia and US can control their proxies.
Moscow suggests that Kurds should be a part of the Geneva peace talks. The Syrian opposition is in agreement with the idea while Ankara understandably opposes the idea. The relations between Russia and Kurds put Russian decision makers in a dilemma. Some Russian political analysts and diplomats share the idea that since the size of the Kurdish population is fairly large, and they have a strong military base in Syria and Iraq they may use their victories to legally claim statehood. The Kurds play a vital role in battling the Islamic State (IS) and other extremist groups.
On the other hand, there are those who believe that drastic fragmentation of the region may lead to a lot of profound consequences that may go against those who sponsor the idea. It is obvious that this fragmentation will affect the relations between the affected countries such Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. Regional stability can only be maintained if the strong states are the guarantors. Russia should support arrangements such as autonomy which are more fragile. This would bring about room for compromise between central governments and minority groups demanding independence. Russia’s friendly relationship with Turkey is the main reason why Kurdish groups doubt whether Moscow will continue to support them. The Kurdish fear that the alignment is temporary and once Moscow restores its relations with Ankara, they will forget about them.
There is no question that this vision will cause a greater representation of the Kurds. The Geneva process is the first step in slowly embracing the changes in politics that will take place in the future. At this point, it wise to proceed with caution as any wrong step can lead to chaos in the Middle East.
Works Cited
Almonitor. "How Russia Sees Kurdish Quest for Autonomy : the Pulse of the Middle East." Al-Monitor. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2016. <http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/05/russia-syria-iraq-kurds-quest-autonomy.html>.
