Although it was driven away from Aleppo after days of clashes, the YPG, the U.S.-backed Syria wing of the PKK terrorist group, remains a risk to the unity of post-Assad Syria.
In addition to occupying one-third of Syrian territories, the YPG controls areas rich in energy resources and water. Experts say that the YPG weaponized its control of water resources during the Aleppo clashes last week by cutting off water from the Euphrates River.
The terrorist group has a self-styled autonomous region in Syria’s northeast or east of the Euphrates River and retains control over the country’s largest energy reserves, fertile lands and dams. The Tishreen Dam east of Aleppo, Tabka and Baath, or Freedom, dams in the west of Raqqa are under the control of terrorists. Control of water resources is an advantage for the group seeking to impose its demands for decentralization and retaining its so-called autonomy for new administrators of the country. The YPG signed a deal with Damascus last March and agreed to integrate into the new army of post-Assad Syria, but the deal appears largely collapsed, as clashes in Aleppo indicated.
During the clashes, the YPG cut off water supplies between two areas in eastern Aleppo on Jan. 10. The Syrian government has announced that the cutoffs disrupted daily life and access to basic services throughout Aleppo. The mounting outcry against the cuts forced the YPG to resume supplies as it seeks to gain sympathy among the wider Syrian public. Muhammad Jamal Diban, director of water authority in Aleppo, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday that 80% of Aleppo’s water needs are covered by al-Babiri water station controlled by the YPG, while the rest was from another station in Khafsah in eastern Aleppo, also controlled by the YPG. Diban said Aleppo needed to retake control of the stations and renovate them to address water challenges for the province. Ömer Özkızılcık, a director at Omran Center for Strategic Studies, said the YPG sought to “punish society,” and cutting off water supplies was “a war crime under international humanitarian law.” Özkızılcık told AA that the YPG responded to their expulsion from Aleppo by cutting off water for civilians. He noted that it affected more than 2 million people.
Oytun Orhan, a Levant expert from the Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM), said that the YPG sought leverage over the new Syrian administration, though it lost control of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods in Aleppo. “They will have a weaker hand now in possible political negotiations with Damascus. Nevertheless, they may leverage their control of water supplies. They have significant clout due to their domination of the Euphrates basin, dams and water supplies, which may also affect electricity generation,” Orhan highlighted. “This is their bargaining chip. This is a power struggle. The Syrian government will likely expand its operations to the YPG (if any negotiations fail) to the east of the Euphrates, to take back control of energy and water resources there,” Orhan said.
The Syrian Army on Monday called the deployment of armed groups by the YPG in the eastern Aleppo province a "dangerous escalation," warning that any action by these groups would be met with "a violent response." "We are conducting a direct and immediate assessment of the situation on the ground," it added. "We will not stand idly by in the face of this dangerous escalation," the command warned.
Usama Muslim, nephew of Salih Muslim, a former ringleader of the “political wing” of the YPG, told AA on Monday that Syrian army operations in Aleppo could extend to northern parts of the country due to the group's failure to engage in the integration and negotiation process.
Muslim said recent military steps taken by Syrian forces in Aleppo were driven by the YPG's reluctance to respond to calls for dialogue and political accommodation. He said developments linked to Türkiye's ongoing "terror-free process" were being followed closely and had shown positive progress, but that similar efforts had not been reflected on the Syrian front.
"We believe the peace process should not be limited to Türkiye but should also be carried out in all areas under PKK control," Muslim said. "So far, we have not seen serious political will in this regard, which has pushed the Syrian government to take action in the Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods."
Muslim said the operations could later expand to areas such as Deir Hafer, Tabqa and Ayn al-Arab, attributing this possibility to the YPG’s lack of sincerity toward peace and negotiations.
He recalled that Kurds were broadly part of the Syrian uprising in its early stages and took part in the fronts against the regime. However, he said local populations in Kurdish-majority areas, including Ayn al-Arab, Ashrafiyah and Sheikh Maqsoud, were not given space to organize, and protests were quickly suppressed.
Muslim said political and civil activity in YPG-held areas required the group's approval and that dissenters faced detention, interrogation and pressure. He said he and others had attempted to operate in Kurdish areas but were later blocked.
He said his last face-to-face meeting with his uncle, Salih Muslim, took place before the Syrian uprising, with limited phone contact during its early phase. He said relations deteriorated once it became clear that they followed different political paths.
"Our position was clear," he said. "We support the Syrian revolution, not the PKK, YPG.”
Calling on Kurdish youth not to be drawn into further conflict, Muslim said political disputes should be resolved through dialogue rather than armed confrontation.
"The army here is the Syrian army, and Kurdish youth are also sons of this country," he said. "Political disagreements are resolved through negotiations, not war."
Muslim said the war era ended with the fall of Bashar Assad in December 2024 and that the next phase should focus on peace, reconciliation and building a unified Syria.
