Abstract
The Middle East has become a battleground for armed non-state actors (ANSAs), and investigation reveals that these regional actors, excluding the PYD, constantly gain or lose territory. Considering the fact that these territorial losses and gains are determined to a great extent by cooperation and conflict among non-state actors (NSAs), the PYD, unlike other NSAs, has a network of foreign relations which functions consistently and pragmatically. Although the military activity of NSAs can lead to deterioration of their relations with others, the PYD has managed to develop its foreign relations, retain its territorial holds, and consolidate popular support, notwithstanding the presence of other rival Kurdish groups and the many-sided conflicts in Syria. The important question here is: Despite marginal differences what is it that enables the PYD to develop a consistent foreign policy unlike other NSAs? Is it legitimate to say that global actors, especially the USA and Russia, support the PYD exclusively because of its professed secular ideology? How does the PYD build its ties with local, regional, and global actors notwithstanding the ideological and strategic differences? To put it differently, how does the PYD manage to get support from both the USA and Russia? In fact, all these questions touch upon the issue of resources and structures that allow the PYD to differentiate itself from other ANSAs. This study will account for the parameters that render it possible for the PYD to develop a “foreign policy” at the local, regional, and global level.
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Notes
- 1.
After Abdullah Öcalan’s capture in 1999, the party ideology changed in many aspects. This change reveals its first sign in the writings of Abdullah Öcalan, as we broadly observe this ideological and strategic fracture in the PKK’s VI Congress in 1999 and VII Congress in 2000, which is considered a continuation of the previous one. To the party members, these congresses are deemed the party’s reconstruction, whereas democratic values appear to be more important in a new world in which borders commence graying. For extensive information see: “PKK Olağanüstü 7. Kongresi: PKK Programı”, Serxwebûn, 220, (2000): 14. (Serxwebun 2000)
- 2.
The fact that regime forces opened fire during demonstrations that emerged after a soccer game, and continued its repressive politics in the following days, induced the PYD (and the Yekîti Party) among other Kurdish factions to lead these demonstrations. This contributed to the idea of an armed struggle and revolutionary thoughts among the gradually radicalized Kurdish youth.
- 3.
Like in European media, YPG/J fighters’ stories seem to attract the American audience, too. Due to this interest, it becomes easy to present the PYD as a secular-oriented organization. For instance, see: Bradley, Matt, and Joe Parkinson. 2015. “America’s Marxist Allies Against ISIS.” The Wall Street Journal, July 24.
- 4.
For instance, see: Enzinna, Wes. 2015. “A Dream of Secular Utopia in ISIS’ Backyard,” The New York Times Magazine, November 24.
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Öğür, B., Baykal, Z. (2018). Understanding “Foreign Policy” of the PYD/YPG as a Non-State Actor in Syria and Beyond. In: Yeşiltaş, M., Kardaş, T. (eds) Non-State Armed Actors in the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55287-3_3
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