As the Syrian civil war enters a new phase and its sides have started talking about the prospects of a political solution now that the conflict is winding down thanks to the efforts of Turkey, Russia and Iran, it is time the PKK-affiliated groups in Syria stop daydreaming and start thinking about where they should be in the "New Syria."

It is clear that their dream of a mini-state in the north of Syria, just across the border with Turkey, is now "mission impossible." The PKK has hijacked Syria's Kurdish political movement, gained control of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and established its fighting force called the People's Protection Units (YPG). Through these entities, it has imposed its will on the people of the region, killing their political adversaries, forcing many Syrian Kurdish political figures to flee the country and thus dominating the lives of ordinary Kurds.They brought in Syrian citizens fighting for the PKK from the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq and they used rough and tough tactics to prevail in the cities and townships of northern Syria. The PYD/YPG comprises of about 8 percent of the total population and yet, through American military support, they occupied 40 percent of Syrian territory with the pretense of fighting Daesh terrorists.

They created terrorist enclaves across the Turkish border from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border. They took control of the Afrin region just east of Turkey's Hatay province. They occupied Arab cities like Manbij and Raqqa. Hence, they started dreaming of creating a mini terrorist state.

Now all those dreams, all the encouragement they received, especially from some Americans, are going down the drain.

The Americans made the terrible mistake of trying to shape their Syrian policy on the PYD/YPG, thus sidelining Turkey and all the other vital actors on the ground. Turkey's Operation Euphrates Shield to enter Syria and push Daesh out of the border areas was the start of the end for the PKK and their dreams. Turkey put a serious dent in the PKK and, thus, has progressively shattered their plans.

Turkey has joined forces with Russia and Iran to create a permanent cease-fire and then set up no-conflict zones, as a result, pushing Syria a step closer to ending the civil war. Turkey has entered the Idlib region just south of its border to enforce the no conflict zone and is poised to push the PKK out of Afrin.

The efforts of Turkey, Russia and Iran to create conditions of a political settlement are being created, accordingly the three countries held a summit in Sochi last week, which makes them the central actors in Syria. Riding the PYD/YPG wagon has consequently disqualified the U.S. as a player in the Syrian game.

It is clear U.S. President Donald Trump has realized this and has therefore been courting Ankara. His telephone call to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan where he promised to end the U.S.'s support to the PYD/YPG and giving them arms, shows there is a change of heart at least at the White House.

All these developments will have to push the PYD/YPG to do some deep thinking. Sooner or later the U.S. will abandon them and they will be left on their own facing Turkey. Once the Syrian mess is cleared, the Kurds of Syria have to realize that they have no option but to live with Turkey and not the PYD or the YPG. Masoud Barzani realized this but made the mistake of calling for an independence referendum.