ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish National Council (ENKS/KNC) representative on Sunday said that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) must be banned from Syria to safeguard the rights of Kurds.
“What is the Kurds’ business in Manbij and Tishreen Dam? Why are the Kurds there? We as the ENKS want to form a joint delegation…The PKK still rules there. We say separate yourselves from the PKK because their presence creates hesitation,” said Abdulhakim Bashar, an ENKS representative.
He added that the Syrian National Army (SNA) attacks on Manbij, Tishreen Dam, and Kobane were all caused by alleged PKK presence.
The ENKS is an umbrella group of Kurdish opposition parties in northeast Syria (Rojava). They have been in constant rivalry with the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) over influence in Rojava, and accuse the latter of having ties with the PKK.
“Let them expel the PKK, cut off their ties with the PKK, and expel foreigners from among themselves. Then, if Kobane is attacked, I will have a different opinion,” he stated.
Bashar has previously claimed that senior PKK commanders exert heavy influence on the ruling PYD, to the ire of Turkey, with the PKK being designated a terrorist organization by Ankara.
There are calls for a unified Kurdish front amid efforts to resume talks between feuding Kurdish parties in Rojava.
Mazloum Abdi, chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), held a meeting late last month with ENKS to pave the way for resolving tensions and resuming talks.
Following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Kurdish National Unity Parties (PYNK) expressed readiness to return to talks with the ENKS. The PYNK is a coalition of 24 parties that have close ties with the PYD and have representatives in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES).
Bashar met with Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to discuss his activities during the 20-day trip to Damascus with different authorities and components in the country.
“He [Masoud Barzani] said briefly, ‘If you accept my advice, you Syrian Kurds should be together and whatever is needed for the rights of the Kurdish people and whatever help I can give, I am ready,” Bashar said.
He also highlighted that during his trip he saw that the Syrian people were very happy to have their newfound freedom of speech.
However, they still had fears as the new authority in Syria had an Islamist background. The ENKS deputy said that one thing was obvious, which is that “the Syrian people have made their own decision and will not accept a one-sided regime, whether Islamist or non-Islamist. One party, one force, one person can no longer rule Syria.”
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