Kremlin Pans Washington following Russian, Turkish Accord on Syrian Kurds

The spokesman for the Kremlin says Washington “abandoned” its Kurdish allies in northeastern Syria and is “almost forcing” them to fight against Turkish troops and their allies. “The United States has been the Kurds’ closest ally in recent years,” Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Wednesday. “In the end, it abandoned the Kurds and, in essence, betrayed them. Now [the Americans] prefer to leave the Kurds at the border and almost force them to fight the Turks.” The comment follows an accord reached the day before in Sochi between Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, under which Russian forces will back Syrian troops in removing the Kurdish YPG militia from a 20-mile-deep corridor just inside Syria. This was Turkey’s declared aim with its October 9 incursion, with Ankara accusing the YPG of aiding an outlawed Kurdish group in Turkey that has been waging a long, bloody struggle for autonomy.