Planned PKK/YPG elections in Syria lack legitimacy: Kurdish movement
Syrian Kurdish women walk past a campaign banner for the PKK/YPG's so-called elections in the northeastern city of Qamishli, Syria, June 6, 2024. (AFP File Photo)


The head of a movement formed by Syrian Kurdish politicians opposed the PKK/YPG terrorists' planned municipal elections in regions it occupies in Syria, saying that such elections are illegal and lack legitimacy

"The PKK does not care about the expectations of all components, including Kurds and Arabs. This so-called election is illegal and illegitimate because it is an operation carried out on an illegal basis," Redif Mustafa, the president of the Kurdish Independence Movement told Anadolu Agency (AA).

He emphasized that the so-called autonomous administration, SDF, PYD and YPG are branches of the PKK terror group.

The PKK/YPG "believe neither in politics nor in law. The purpose of these structures is to bring the PKK experience to Syria," said Mustafa.

Further, he highlighted that the so-called autonomous administration has ties to Qandil terrorists, with YPG leaders integrated into the PKK's so-called "administration cadre."

Mustafa pointed out that the PKK/YPG uses the pretext of "fighting ISIS" to solidify its presence in occupied territories while emphasizing the terror organization's attempt to legitimize itself through pseudo-legal laws.

He said the PKK/YPG entered Syria through Iran and the Assad regime to achieve two main objectives:

"Firstly, to neutralize the Kurds, and secondly, to divert focus from the Syrian revolution. They are trying to direct attention towards Türkiye."

Constitution

Mustafa emphasized that only the national administration or the Syrian people should draft the Constitution.

He argued that neither the so-called autonomous administration nor the provinces of Suwayda or Latakia in the south had the authority to create their constitutions.

Mustafa said the Constitutional Committee aims to draft a Constitution encompassing all of Syria.

"If the people approve, it will be an official document within the framework of the transition process. However, (PKK/YPG) wants to break all these rules.

"The terrorist organization uses terms like democracy, ecological rights, and women's rights in all their writings, but the realities on the ground prove the opposite," he said.

Mustafa highlighted that the terror group targeted the offices of the Syrian Kurdish National Council (ENKS), the main political representative of Kurds in Syria.

He said they imprisoned or exiled its leaders and personally faced death threats, unable to return home for seven months.

"The PKK treats anyone different from them as either an absolute dependency project or a genocide project. The lives of our affiliates in Syria are in danger," he said.

Neither Arabs are Daeshnor Kurds are PKK

Mustafa noted there was a large migration from the district of Ain al-Arab (Kobani) during the occupation of northeastern Syria by terrorists.

He said that the Daesh and PKK terror groups employ similar terror tactics to steal the will of the people.

"The northeastern regions of Syria are managed by militias affiliated with the PKK. The statement that Kurds are PKK is only an attempt to create ethnic and sectarian strife. Neither Arabs are ISIS nor Kurds are PKK," he said.

Mustafa urged the residents in the regions occupied by the terrorists to take action.

"Currently, the people need to take action, just like in the province of Suwayda, where anti-regime demonstrations are taking place. This can be productive if people act in their own interest.

"It is necessary for the people to defend themselves, their interests, and their future, not for me, not for the Independent Association, nor for the Kurdish National Council," he said.

The PKK/YPG terror organization, which plans to hold so-called local elections in the areas it occupies in Syria, had to postpone the polls to August after warnings from Türkiye that a terror state would not be allowed to be established in the region.