MESOP : SALIH MUSLIM (PYD) = ASSAD SUPPORTS ISIL

Muslim accused the Syrian government of “supporting the ISIL and the other forces against the Kurds in Western Kurdistan (the areas where Kurds constitute a majority, in north and northeastern Syria)”.

‘We are anti-Syrian regime’: PYD leader – Interview   / Salih Muslim, head of the Democratic Union Party (PYD)

ARA News – 16-5-2014 – Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan– Salih Muslim, the head of the Democratic Union Party in Syria (PYD), called on the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) to support his party in its fight against the Qaeda splinter group of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Muslim called the ISIL “an enemy to the Kurdish people”.

Muslim accused the Syrian government of “supporting the ISIL and the other forces against the Kurds in Western Kurdistan (the areas where Kurds constitute a majority, in north and northeastern Syria)”.

Muslim, in a press statement to the Turkish media, called on the KRG “to provide military, financial and moral support” to his party, pointing out that the PYD is “an anti-regime party” and that they “don’t work in coordination with the Syrian government” as other Kurdish rival parties accuse them.

Regarding the prevention of the work of other political forces in areas which fall under the control of the military and security forces of his party (PYD), Muslim stated: “There is no need in Western Kurdistan to any parties linked with external forces (regional or international) or which their leaders live abroad (in reference to rival Syrian Kurdish politicians).”

Muslim also blamed the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) −ruling party in Iraqi Kurdistan− for the decision of the KRG to dig a trench along its borders with the Syrian Kurdish areas to prevent the infiltration of terrorists into its territory, saying: “No terrorists are able to enter the Iraqi Kurdistan territory through that area.”

Head of the PYD also accused Saudi Arabia and other countries of involvement in supporting radical groups “which try to target the Kurds on different fronts”.Commenting on Salih Muslim’s statements, Ali Muslim, member of the Central Committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria, said: “The statement of Salih Muslim contradicts the politics of his party and raises several questions regarding the current political position of the party. It also reveals that the PYD is going through a state of confusion.”

“The political future of the PYD is at stake as it is compelled to allow the conduction of the Syrian presidential elections (by the Assad regime) in the Kurdish areas which fall under the control of its (PYD’s) security and military forces (Assayish and YPG),” Ali Muslim said.

Regarding the appeal of the head of the PYD, Salim Muslim, to the KRG for support against the ISIL, Ali Muslim expressed his firm belief that the KRG isn’t intending to provide such a support in any way.

“PYD’s leadership aims at misleading the Kurdish public opinion by showing that the KRG will not provide any help to its fight against the ISIL, and that the PYD is thus compelled to coordinate with the Syrian regime,” said Ali Muslim, member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria. “The PYD also aims at justifying its approval to the conduction of the Syrian presidential elections in the Kurdish areas.”

The military and security forces of the PYD have been in control over the predominantly Kurdish areas in north and northeastern Syria, after the Syrian government handed those areas over to them in summer 2012. The PYD announced last year (together with several allied Arab, Kurdish and Syriac minor parties) the formation of a transitional government in al-Jazeera province (northeast of Syria), Kobane and Efrin (north and northwest). Other Kurdish parties accused the PYD of “monopolizing power” in the area and “excluding” them from the decision-making process. – Reporting by: Azad Jamkari – Source: ARA News