'When we look from Rojava, there is no difference between Erdogan and Baghdadi.' PYD Co-chair Saleh Moslem. (
ANF).
PYD Co-chair Saleh Moslem spoke during a people’s meeting in London and
answered Erdoğan’s “Let YPG save you now” comment on HDP MPs with:
“Freedom for Demirtaş and his friends is our duty.”
Democratic Unity Party (PYD) Co-chair Saleh Moslem is in the United
Kingdom for a series of meetings and he spoke at the Kurdish Social
Center in London.
Moslem assessed the latest developments in Syria and the Middle East.
He pointed out that the Turkish state’s attacks in Cizre and Şırnak
were no different from the attacks in Kobanê and said: “
They couldn’t
even tolerate the tents Şırnak residents whose homes were demolished put
up on the periphery of the city, and they burned those too. They want
to ‘cleanse’ these lands.
The events in Ottoman history are being
repeated, in a way.
Where do the Central Anatolian Kurds come from?
These are all people forcibly pushed out of Kurdistan. It’s all to
assimilate these people. And the proposed camp in Maraş is a part of
this plan as well. That is what bringing Sunni Arabs into a residential
area that is wholly Alevi means.”
“A TOUGH FIGHT IS TO COME FOR KURDS”
Moslem stated the following in the rest of his speech:
“We are a movement that fights a moral war, that is loyal to
humanitarian values, that only wages a fight for freedom and democracy,
we have no other goal. On the other corner is a terror such as ISIS and
Al Nusra that the whole world fears. This is why all international
powers are revising their plans. Kurds are stepping on to the stage of
history once more, they are recognized at this level for the first time.
For example, if we see such a level of international support on
November 1 World Kobanê Day, this is valuable for us.
But this doesn’t mean that the Kurds have made it. There is a tough
fight to come for us. I don’t mean this in a military sense, the
military struggle continues daily in any case. We are building a system
in Rojava now. Of course we want this system for all of the Middle East,
not just for Rojava. We have been building our own democratic autonomy
since 2012. But there are territories such as Manbij, Girê Spî and
others that have joined us recently. Arab population is dense in these
new areas. At this point, we must adapt our system. A democratic system
in which all peoples can live together. We define this system as
federalism for now. A democratic federal system for all of Syria.
But
there are those who still don’t want a system where the Kurds have a
will. And they have no suggestions of their own. Syria won’t go back to
the old Syria, it’s impossible. Everybody must see this.
The villages to the north of Al Bab are very important to us. Of
course, Turkey is after implementing the safe zone plan that they have
been talking about since the beginning. They want to change the
demography. And on the other hand, they don’t want their relationship
with ISIS to end.
So, they enter those lands with their tanks,
artilleries and jet fighters. They haven’t reached Al Bab yet, and I
don’t believe they can. Our forces are 7-8 km away from Al Bab from the
east. 10 km to the south of Al Bab are the regime forces. At this point,
the Free Syrian Army is a lie. They are not an army, they are not free
and they are not Syrian. The International Coalition has yet to reach a
decision on this matter. The Turkish army wanted to advance, our forces
stopped them. Of course the clashes weren’t directly with the Turkish
army, it was with forces they call FSA. Al Bab is still controlled by
ISIS. And the Turkish state still has a relationship with ISIS. The
forces fighting there are not the SDF, they are local forces, like Al
Bab Military Council and Jabhat ul Akrad.
ANSWER TO ERDOĞAN
When we look from Rojava, there is no difference between Erdoğan and
Baghdadi. Whatever ISIS is doing in Syria, Erdoğan is doing the same in
Northern Kurdistan.
It is our responsibility to be in solidarity with
the people of Northern Kurdistan, we must do this. Tayyip Erdoğan said
about Demirtaş, ‘Let YPG save you’.
I would like to say this here: It is
our duty to save them! The Turkish state forces us to say these things.
Yes, we will fight until the end and achieve the freedom of Demirtaş
and his colleagues.”
“YPG'S RETREAT FROM MANBIJ TURNED INTO A CRISIS”
PYD Co-chair Salih Muslim answered a question on YPG’s retreat from
Manbij: “YPG was formed for the interests and security of all the
peoples of Kurdistan. When local forces form and reach a point where
they can achieve their own security in places like Manbij, there is no
more need for YPG to be there.
Of course the matter turned into a crisis
between Turkey and the US.
The last ones were a 200 person force that
stayed behind for military training, and they completed mission and
retreated. So this was a crisis? Alright, we are retreating - and we are
marching onwards to Raqqa.
Nobody worry about Manbij, it is the land of
Abu Leyla, there are heroes who will defend that land.”
