Syria
"Clearly [the neighbourhood of Sheikh Maqsoud] it's not an essential frontline. But it's not about that," Stephens said. "It's a unifying front in which people from all across Kurdistan can say, 'Yes, this is a place where Kurds are suffering … This is integral to our identity, national defence, our sense of nationhood.' And you have a larger goal from the PYD: to build an autonomous state."
