The Kurdish National Council (ENKS), a local political party based in northern Syria, announced on Monday that the PKK terrorist group's Syrian wing YPG had had abducted two of its members in the Hassakeh and Raqqa regions.
PKK/YPG terrorists kidnapped Abdurrahman Shank from Raqqa’s Tabka district and Khalid Miro from Hassakeh’s Malikiyye district, local sources reported.
The whereabouts of the ENKS members are yet unknown.
In a statement on X, the council condemned the abduction and demanded the immediate release of its two members.
"We as the Kurdish National Council hold the PYD (PKK/YPG) responsible for the abduction. We condemn all kinds of violence, intimidation and violation of human rights," it said.
It also called on United States-led coalition forces to act to prevent such violations.
The abductions come as backlash has snowballed in northern Syria against the PKK/YPG over its plans to hold so-called elections in the region.
The ENKS was the first to boycott the elections, with its secretary-general, Muhammad Ismail, arguing that they viewed the elections as "illegitimate."
Soon the boycott grew, accompanied by protests in Syria. The United States, known for its staunch support for the PKK/YPG, also warned against the elections, saying the conditions were "not feasible."
'Dividing' Syria
The PKK/YPG has since postponed the elections from June 11 to August 2024. Sources said the elections, planned in several regions and towns, from Deir el-Zour and Raqqa to Manbij and Afrin, were postponed due to "intense external pressure."
Locals in districts like Manbij, whose lands were occupied by the PKK/YPG eight years ago, are among staunch opponents of the elections, too. They believe that the move aims to divide the country.
The district center, town and villages of Manbij, whose population overwhelmingly consists of Arabs with close to 99%, were occupied by the PKK/YPG with the support of the U.S. in 2016. The U.S., which promised that PKK/YPG members would leave Manbij, did not fulfill its commitments.
Civilians escaping from the methods of forced recruitment, kidnapping of children, and drug addiction and extortion imposed by the terrorist organization under the pretext of "tax" in the occupied territories have migrated to the Turkish border.
For Türkiye, the move is the first step to establishing a "PKK-run state" in Syria’s north, immediately across the border. Türkiye has highlighted that the election was also a threat to the territorial integrity of Syria, which has been mired in a civil war since 2011.
Ankara, which has troops inside northern Syria backing the Assad regime’s opposition, has pursued diplomatic talks to prevent the elections and has emphasized that it would endanger border security and regional peace.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said the PKK's Syrian extension was intensifying efforts to establish a "terroristan" by oppressing the local population and using various coercive methods, including the expulsion of non-compliant individuals and the use of child soldiers.
"Türkiye absolutely rejects the terrorist group’s effort to conduct so-called elections to establish a terror state that doesn’t correspond to the regional realities in any way," Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said Monday.
"The YPG’s presence is portrayed as a fight against Daesh and the international community is fooled with this context, but it is not," Güler said. "It’s an effort to execute step by step a heinous plan that directly targets Türkiye and our region."