As the Middle-East unravels, Kurdistan displays its new leverage

Any military incursion by Turkey into Syrian Kurdistan will though have dire consequence. It will further antagonise the PYD into a hard-line stance and certainly tip the scale for Kurdish moderates. Even the PKK have renewed grounds for striking peace, if they can find a political voice in Syria. This may well change the tune of negotiations in Turkey, affording them with a unique opportunity to break from arms and their image.

Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani and Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu both warned in a joint statement that "any attempt to exploit the power vacuum by any violent group or organisation will be considered as a common threat." Barzani is unlikely to relinquish support and unity with PYD, but the statement serves as a warning to the party, to keep within a political path and uphold the terms of the Erbil Agreement.

Turkey may well accept the PYD as long as the PYD works closely with the Kurdistan Region. Some Turkish circles had expressed surprise at Barzani’s key part in the Erbil agreement that ensured Syrian Kurdish unity, but Ankara will in the background accept and encourage Barzani and the KRG to becoming the ‘foster parents’ of the Syrian Kurds.

Increasing economic and political support for the KRG from Turkey, and perhaps even statehood, will come under the trade-off that peace and stability can be maintained in Turkish Kurdistan and the surrounding Kurdish areas.

Turkey and Kurdistan may well become a de-facto confederation. It may seem strange but how believable were senior Turkish leaders openly referring to the term Kurdistan and giving press conferences under the flags of Kurdistan and Turkey just a few years ago?

Such strong alliances could well be win-win for Turks and Kurds. Turkey has access to Europe and the possibility of future European Union membership with all the benefits it entails, while Kurdistan has access to billions of barrels of oil, are secular Sunni’s like Turkey, and form an increasingly important buffer against Shiite influence and in the ever hostile and conflict torn Middle East.