Author: diako_ber » Tue Jul 31, 2012 2:15 am
Leader of Free Syrian Army Says No Kurdish Region Allowed to Establish in Syria
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Colonel Riad al-Asaad, the leader of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), stated that the group would not allow an independent Kurdish region to be established in Syria.
“We will not allow one meter of Syrian land to be separated, and we will fight against anyone who tries to do so,” Asaad told the Turkish newspaper Bugun on Monday, attributing the FSA’s position to the principle of “one flag, united land.”
Asaad asserted that the FSA is not seeking a confrontation with Kurds at the moment, saying, “We don’t want to clash with the Kurds because our forces are not ready to open a new front in Kurdish areas.”
However, he added, “But we will never leave Qamishli for the agenda of any Kurdish faction, and we are willing to fight for each inch of Syrian land.”
Asaad told Bugun that the FSA has requested a meeting with Kurdish factions to discuss the issue and convey their point of view. “And we will clarify to them that we are willing to fight against Kurdish forces that intend to divide the Syrian land to declare a Kurdish independent region, because preserving the unity of the Syria is our main goal,” he said.
“The presence of different political groups in Syria is a dangerous matter and threatens security in the country, and the FSA is fighting with all its strength for the sake of the Syrian state, while the political groups and organizations are fighting for their own interests, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, the tribes and the Kurds,” Asaad added.
He stated that some Syrian Kurds support the FSA, while others support the Democratic Union Party (PYD). “The regime has retreated from a number of Kurdish areas and enabled the PYD to take control of these areas, which could be considered a strategy by the regime to create divisions between opposition bodies,” Asaad concluded.
On the other hand, the rejection of Turkish authorities to Kurdish control of the northern areas of Syria was recently revealed.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Syrian regime of giving Kurdish rebels free reign in north Syria, and warned that Ankara could strike the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), of which the PYD is an affiliate, inside Syria.
“Right now, the Assad regime is stuck in Damascus and also in the Latakia region. Five northern provinces were given to the Kurds and their ‘terrorist’ organization. There will undoubtedly be a response on our part to this,” Erdogan told Turkish TV 24, adding that a Kurdish presence with ties to the PKK could give Turkey a reason to intervene militarily in Syria.
.