Abdi, by contrast, came to leadership via associations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an organization that Turkey and many Western countries consider a terrorist group.Therefore, depending on how one views these organizations,

The deal would allow Kurdish-led forces which hold a quarter of Syria to merge with Damascus, along with regional Kurdish governing bodies.

The United States encouraged its Syrian Kurdish allies to reach Monday's landmark deal with the Islamist-led government in Damascus, six sources said, an agreement that could stave off further conflict in northern Syria at a time of uncertainty over the future of U.