MESOP : SALIH MUSLIM SPEAKS IN COPENHAGEN / MY TALKS IN ANKARA: “YES TO BUFFER ZONE BY UN” !

Deniz Serinci — October 6, 2014 – COPENHAGEN,— Salih Muslim, the leader of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), has visited Turkish officials in Ankara. According to the Turkish newspapers Radikal and Hürriyet Muslim has been urged by the Turkish intelligence authorities to bring his forces under the ranks of the Free Syrian Army.Muslim attended a lengthy meeting with Turkish intelligence officials Saturday about the ongoing Islamic State (IS) siege of the Kobani canton in Kurdish area of Syria, also known as Rojava.During the meeting in Ankara, the PYD leader was urged to “take an open stance against the Syrian regime” and join the ranks of the Free Syrian Army against President Bashar al-Assad.The meeting was closed to the press, but during a press conference in the Danish parliament the day before, Muslim denied that the PYD and the country’s regime have an alliance and a tacit agreement not to attack each other.  

“Since 2004 we have fought against Assad. In 2012, we succeeded in ousting the regime’s forces and liberate Kurdish areas,” Muslim said on Friday in Copenhagen. In addition the Turkish officials urged Muslim to refrain from actions that can harm Syria’s “territorial integrity”. Conversely, Muslim expressed his dissatisfaction that the Turks will not provide military and logistical support to the PYD to IS, according to Hürriyet. Turkish officials once again urged the PYD to distance itself from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organization by the European Union and NATO.

Officially PYD denies being “the Syrian branch of PKK,” as Turkish newspapers often write.

“We have no organizational links with the PKK. It is true that we share some of Abdullah Ocalan’s ideas, but that does not mean that we are related,” Muslim said in Copenhagen.

Muslim’s visit came after Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtas requested help from the Turkish government IS. On Thursday the Turkish parliament authorized the army to take action against the approaching IS militants just south of their border, but so far congregating Turkish soldiers backed by tanks and artillery remain inactive on the border.

“We wouldn’t want Kobani to fall,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the media. “We’ll do whatever we can to prevent this from happening.” Turkey has long talked about creating a buffer zone in Northern Syria. But if this is done unilaterally, the PYD will consider it an “occupation,” Muslim stated. “We have respect for a buffer created by the United Nations. But if Turkey alone creates such a thing, we would be against it,” Muslim said on Friday in Copenhagen.”If, however, they coordinate the creation of a buffer zone with us, we are ready to cooperate with the Turks. Anything else will we see as an occupation and we will be against it.”On Friday Muslim described the situation in Kobani as “very critical.” “Kobani has been without water from the Euphrates River and electricity from Tishrin-water company in two years. We have, however, by its own means dug wells and runs on electricity generators, which we have installed,” he said comparing the situation to Europe.

“If the same thing happened to a city in Europe, people would not be able to live in such a city.”Also he stressed that the Kurds urgent need better weapons. “Our armed forces are trying to defend Kobani with its civilians, but they can’t do much against the advanced weaponry, including tanks and artillery, which IS has,” Muslim said in Copenhagen, referring to the large arsenal of American weapons that IS has conquered during their march in the neighboring country from the Iraqi army.

Deniz B. Serinci, a freelance Danish professional journalist and a regular contributing writer for Ekurd.net. You can visit his official website at: www.serinci.dk.