Jul 24, 2013

The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) are now advancing toward the Arabiyya border crossing that leads to Mosul in northern Iraq. The YPG, which is the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), has clashed recently with the radical Islamist group Jabhat al-Nusra at the Ceylanpinar and Akcakale border regions.

Preparations are underway for a large-scale operation to capture the area from Jabhat al-Nusra-related religious groups, which are now controlling it.

The Arabiyya crossing is in a strategically important area that controls the main trade route between Iraq and Syria. Most of the economic activity between the two countries is conducted there. Both sides of the border are populated mostly by Turkmen.

Other crossings closed

After the PYD took control of border areas, the border crossings at Nusaybin, Ceylanpinar and Akcakale — which link Syria's Kurdish region to Turkey — were closed. The closure caused shortages of food and other essential items, forcing the Syrian Kurds to meet their needs through the Arabiyya crossing, which opens to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. But this crossing was off limits to Syrian Kurds because of the problems between the PYD and Syrian Kurdish groups loyal to Massoud Barzani, the Kurdistan Regional Government president. The crossing was being occasionally opened for essential supplies. The PYD has now decided to expand its operations to the north, to capture the Arabiyya crossing that leads to Mosul.