A Kurdish fighter inspects a prison in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli on April 22. The Kurds are playing a central role in the Syrian conflict as Russia, the United States and Turkey try to use the minority group to meet their own goals.
In the interconnected zone of conflict spreading across Syria, Iraq and Turkey, the Kurds have taken on an increasingly important role. Their dispersal across the geographic area has allowed them to play a pivotal part in the fighting time and again, while their political divisions have subjected them to manipulation by outside powers. Now the Kurds are once again at the center of attention. In spite of Moscow's ties to the government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, Russia has been cultivating connections with numerous Kurdish factions and, possibly, supplying them with arms. The United States has also been providing air support for several of the same factions for some time. Russian and U.S. assistance for these groups has, in turn, worried Turkey, which is concerned about the calls for autonomy coming from its own Kurdish minority.
