PYD Leader Denies Turkish Claims that His Group Works with Syrian Regime
09/08/2012 RUDAW By ADIB ABDULMAJID – AMSTERDAM, Netherlands –Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stated recently that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is enhancing its presence in northern Syria “in order to begin attacking the Turkish forces from Syria”.But Salih Muslim, leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) – a party with links to the PKK – denied the claims of the Turkish prime minister. Speaking to Washington-based radio Radio Sawa, Muslim also rejected claims that his party works with the regime of Bashar Assad, saying his party doesn’t represent the Syrian regime, “but we have our own vision and strategy concerning the ongoing uprising in Syria,”
“We want to solve the Kurdish issue in Syria through democratic and peaceful methods and we are committed to this principle, and we have clarified our vision since the beginning of the uprising,” he said.
Muslim said that the Kurdish areas of Syria under the control of people themselves.“It is a sort of the beginning of spreading the authority of the Kurdish people on their areas, and we believe that the Kurdish demands must be achieved within the Syrian borders, and any solution for the Kurdish issue should guarantee the unity of the Syrian land, and that’s why our policies are not regarded by any regional force,” the PYD leader said. “We are forced at this sensitive stage of Syria’s history to protect our people against any potential danger, that is our main concern at the moment.”
Prime Minister Erdogan has repeatedly accused the Syrian regime of handing over some areas in the north of Syria – Particularly the Kurdish areas – to the PKK and its Syrian ally the PYD, adding that Turkey is willing to “intervene in Syria in order to pursue PKK fighters if necessary”.
“The Kurds are trying to find a proper situation for themselves through their presence in some northern areas in Syria, and they are trying to do that according to their own interests in order to achieve some unreavled ambitions,” Erdogan told the Turkish television Kanal 24 recently.
Meanwhile, Turkish writer and analyst Fayik Bulut told Radio Sawa that Erdogan’s policy aimed at a rapid collapse of the Assad regime.
“The Turkish government made its decision to see Syria’s future without Assad and is looking forward to the overthrow of the Syrian regime,” he said. “Thus, the Turkish government supported by its allies, is trying to impose a cordon on the Syrian regime in order to accelerate its collapse.”
Bulut also said that Erdogan’s government is concerned about Kurdish control of parts of Syria in the wake of regime change in Syria.
“On the other hand, the Turkish authorities are very concerned about the Kurdish issue and its future in Syria,” he said. “It [Turkey] has revealed its worries concerning this matter, because we have the same complex with the Kurds in Turkey, and the Turkish government is afraid of any potential decentralized Kurdish rule in Syria. That will absolutely affect the Kurdish situation in Turkey and will represent a threat to the unity of Turkey.”