A YouTube video has appeared of an English-speaking man, believed to be a fighter from the Democratic Union Party's (PYD) armed wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG) – an offshoot of the PKK terrorist organization – making a call for Westerners to join the ranks of the armed group and conduct terrorist attacks against the Turkish state.
The footage shows the man, with his face covered by a scarf while his rifle leans on his leg, making a statement to a group gathered around him, urging Kurds and Westerners to arm against the Turkish state. Beside the man also stands other western PYD members who are, reportedly, part of the PYD's international unit.
"Attack the institutions of the Turkish state all over the world. Come to Kurdistan and join the forces of the YPJ (women's branch of the YPG), YPS (the newly formed armed wing of the YPG in Turkey) and the guerrillas," the man says in the video.
Turkey has repeatedly voiced its concern over the PYD's affiliation with the PKK terrorist group and the sharing of logistical information and weaponry between them. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has repeatedly said that Turkey has no problem with the Kurds in Syria but the PYD will not be considered a legitimate party or representative of the Syrian Kurds due to its relations with the PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist group by the EU and the U.S.
Turkey has also been against the PYD being accepted as a party at the Geneva peace talks, which will be held on Jan. 29.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said late Tuesday that Turkey has promised that the PKK-affiliated PYD will not attend the Syria talks beginning in Geneva on Friday and the Turkish government would definitely consider boycotting the meeting in Geneva if this pledge was not kept.
Çavuşoğlu's tough remarks came as the United Nations' Syrian envoy Staffan de Mistura found an intermediate solution by inviting the representatives of a Kurdish group called the Syrian Democratic Assembly (SDA). Çavuşoğlu, speaking on the NTV news channel, said the PYD was a terrorist group and that the legitimate Syrian opposition had no intention of sitting side by side with its representatives.
Russia on the other hand, a close ally of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, has been calling for the PYD to be included in the opposition delegation.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov however on Tuesday insisted that UN-backed Syria talks will not be successful if Kurdish representatives were not invited.
"Without this party, without this participant the talks cannot achieve the results that we want, a definitive political resolution in Syria," Lavrov told journalists at his main annual press conference.
While Ankara asserts that the PYD is affiliated with the PKK, a designated terrorist organization by the U.S., EU and NATO, Washington does not share Ankara's concern.
The U.S. also provided arms to the PYD in October, which drew heavy criticism from Ankara. The U.S. air force dropped 50 tons of arms and ammunition to the PYD in the northern Syrian province of al-Hasakah. The 112 pallets reportedly contained ammunition for M-16s and AK-47s.
Defending the PYD because it fights Daesh on the ground in Syria, Washington continues to read from a different page to Ankara concerning the PYD. Even though the U.S. says the PYD is the only effective force fighting DAESH on the ground, Ankara reiterates that there cannot be any distinction of good or bad terrorist organizations.
About the author
Ph.D. holder in Political Science and International Relations, editorial coordinator at Daily Sabah
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