MESOP FLASH : KURDS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST PYD/PKK IN ROJAVA (SYRIA) – Members of ENKS started a hunger strike in the southern Turkey against PYD

Basnews English – 26 Sept 2016 – ERBIL — To oppose the ruling Democratic Union Party’s (PYD) campaign against the Kurdish political rivals in the Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), members of the Syrian Kurdish National Council (ENKS) started a hunger strike in Şanlıurfa province of Turkey.According to sources from Rojava, PYD has launched a new campaign to detain members from other parties for having different political views, and has so far arrested dozens of political figures and activists. Earlier this month, a number of Kurdish activists and relatives of the prisoners went on a hunger strike for a week to compel PYD to release the detainees.

The ENKS members started the latest hunger strike on Friday, September 23, to pressure PYD to release the ENKS members who have been detained for weeks. Antar Naasan, a leading member of ENKS, told BasNews that considering the national Kurdish interests, PYD must reconsider its policies towards ENKS and Kurdistan Region and remain committed to the agreement made between ENKS and Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM), the governing coalition in the de facto autonomous Rojava region.

The agreement was made under the direct supervision of Masoud Barzani, the Kurdistan Region President. Naasan believes that PYD’s campaign of arresting and expelling ENKS members will only serve the interests of the enemies of Kurds, therefore it should put an end to this campaign and free the detained members.  www.mesop.de