What's in it for the Syrian Kurds, who began the war by taking part in the anti-Assad uprising? The most likely answer is that the Syrian Kurds hope to get a quid pro quo from Mr Assad. The idea of Kurdish autonomy was floated back in December 2016 in a Russian draft constitution for post-war Syria. Mr Assad won't want to give up sovereignty of Syrian territory any more than Iraqi leaders wanted to give autonomy to Iraqi Kurds. That's a flip from 2016, when Barack Obama's administration indicated that it didn't support Syrian Kurdish autonomy.

Source: Bangkok Post May 16, 2017 21:56 UTC