Kurdish issue can be solved through peaceful, sincere dialogue – Abdi
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Commander in Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi said on Sunday The Kurdish issue can only be solved through “peaceful and sincere dialogue.”
This came in an interview with Al-Monitor, as Abdi said that when Turkey had peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the past this had “positive impacts” on the Kurds in northeast Syria “Rojava.”
When Turkey decided to resume conflict against the PKK in 2015, it also grew hostile against areas in northeast Syria in 2019, according to Abdi.
He added the SDF takes Turkey’s threats to launch a new military operation against Syria’s north seriously and urged Turkey not to punish Syria’s Kurds “over its own failure to bring long-shelved peace talks with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to a successful conclusion.”
Since May 2022, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has continued threatening to launch a new military operation against north Syria, specifying his targets in Manbij, Tel Rifaat and Kobani.
Erdogan revealed in Nov. 2022 that there were talks with parties to the conflict of Syria to carry out a ground operation against northern Syria and northern Iraq.
Though failed to obtain a green light to launch the operation, Turkey continues sending military reinforcements to northeastern Syria, as on Jan. 16, a Turkish military convoy entered the city of al-Bab east of Aleppo.
In addition, in Dec. 2022, Turkey sent military reinforcements to bases deployed in Idlib, northwest Syria.
On November 20, 2022, the Turkish air force launched intense airstrikes on all AANES-held areas on the Syrian-Turkish border in addition to bombarding areas that are more than 40 km away from the border such as the US-led Global Coalition military base and Hawl Camp in Hasakah.
Abdi said that Turkey is trying to export its domestic issues, especially since the Turkish presidential elections are approaching and Erdogan wants to “rally nationalist support.”
In addition, the SDF commander stressed that the Syrian Kurds, the SDF, and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) do not pose any threats against Turkey rather they “want peaceful relations with Turkey.”
“We are not the PKK. We have no organic links to the PKK. We reject these accusations,” he added.
Abdi strongly refused the Turkish attacks, saying, “This is a new level of escalation aimed at destroying our self-administration.”
In response to a question about the US position over any Turkish military operation in Syria, Abdi noted it expressed its clear rejection of any Turkish operation, but the US “efforts are falling short. Therefore, they need to do more.”
He stressed that in case the SDF is attacked, “We are determined to resist till the end,” thus the SDF operations against Islamic State (ISIS) will be suspended.
Regarding Russian efforts to normalize ties between Syria and Turkey, the SDF Commander in Chief said that Russia intends to solve problems in Syria by bringing Turkey and “the Syrian regime” altogether.
In Dec. 2022, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and the head of Turkish intelligence Hakan Fidan met with Syrian defense minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas and Syrian intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk in the Russian capital Moscow in the presence of Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu, marking the first announced official meeting between Turkey and Syria since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
However, Abdi noted that this will not work because the “Syrian regime” will neither compromise on its demands, including the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria, nor respond to Turkey’s demands to dissolve the AANES.