Syria’s Push Against the Kurds Risks a Wider Escalation

OilPrice · Editorial Dept · last updated January 16, 2026 – 5:41 AM

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict Syria is moving into a dangerous new phase. Damascus is pushing Kurdish forces out of Aleppo. Kurdish autonomy west of the Euphrates is no longer being tolerated, and the order to withdraw east is not a bargaining position. The Aleppo advance changes leverage. Once Kurdish forces lose their urban footholds, they lose political weight quickly. That is why the protests in Kurdish areas are growing out of desperation over the loss of negotiating leverage. At the same time, Washington is running a parallel play…

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