Eurasia Press & News
The co-leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which declared the establishment of a constituent assembly in the northern parts of Syria locally denominated as Rojava, said they have not held talks with Turkish officials in the recent period.
Although PYD’s latest move was branded as a “first step towards self-administration” and was slammed by Ankara, Saleh Muslim, who came to Turkey twice in August to meet intelligence officials and diplomats, expressed his readiness to engage in further talks with Turkey.
“We are hoping [that there will be new talks]. Why shouldn’t there be? We are ready for dialogue,” Muslim told the satellite channel Sterk TV on Nov. 23.
Muslim also brushed aside the accusations directed by the leader of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Masoud Barzani on having moved towards autonomy by means of secret deals with the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Describing Barzani’s statements as “unfortunate”, Muslim said they viewed it as an interference on their internal policy. He however refused the notion that there could be an open clash with the Iraqi Kurds on the issue. “There are no objective or concrete conditions for a conflict among brothers,” Muslim said.
“[Barzani] should be together with his people. The people in Rojava are also Kurds. He should not see us differently,” he said, providing assurances that the plan to establish self-rule was not targeting anyone.
“We are doing it to not be without food, without oil. No one should feel threatened if we want order for our people. But unfortunately they show us as if we were against Turkish and Kurdish people,” Muslim said.
