Wpływ wojny hybrydowej w Syrii na pozycję Kurdów w regionie Bliskiego Wschodu
Impact of hybrid war in Syria on the status of the Kurds in the Middle East

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to analyze the impact of hybrid war in Syria on the status of the Kurds in the Middle East. To begin with, the Syrian War constitutes an independent variable of the Kurds’ position within the scope of this analysis. The ongoing warfare is considered as a determining variable due to several factors, including the changing approach of Bashar al-Assad's regime towards the Kurdish minority, the role of third parties implicated in the conflict, in particular Iran, Turkey and the US, as well as the geopolitical influence of the Islamic State’s aggression in Syria. Secondly, the article attempts to “gauge” or determine the status of the Kurds in the Middle East resulting from the abovementioned phenomena. Thirdly, in the context of the previous point, it is relevant to demonstrate the actions taken by the Kurds themselves in terms of their plans and objectives, their success against jihadists, and their relations with important local players and with the US. The following research questions are formulated in the course of the presented considerations: has the status of the Kurds in the region improved as a result of the ongoing warfare in Syria and have they eventually become a noteworthy actor in the conflict, or rather, have they been marginalized, with the problem of Kurdish autonomy in Syria deemed no longer relevant? Does the war in Syria imply the position of the Kurds in the Middle East, and is it significantly influenced by the rivalry of regional and extra-regional powers? The article investigates two research hypotheses. 1) The international position of the Kurds is significantly influenced by the involvement of regional powers as well as the United States and Russia in a hybrid war in Syria, which should be considered a manifestation of their geopolitical rivalry in the Middle East. 2) The involvement of the Kurds in combat against fighters from the so-called Islamic State caused a short-term increase in the international position of this minority. In the long term, the fight between Kurds and jihadists was instrumentally treated by the main "players" in the region as well as the United States and Russia and related to the implementation of their geopolitical interests.

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