KDP Denies Closing Kurdistan Border to Salih Muslim

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has denied it did not allow Syrian Kurdish leader Salih Muslim to travel to Europe through its territory.

KDP spokesman Jafar Eminki said that his party had nothing to do with the claim by Muslim, who is the leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the group in control of Syria’s Kurdish regions.

“We as the KDP have nothing to do with this (Muslim’s entry) because the borders are controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), not KDP,” Eminki said.

But Muslim said it was the KDP’s Central Council that had decided to prevent him from entering the Kurdistan Region. “I was informed to use Baghdad, Damascus, Ankara or Tehran to reach Europe, but I did not do this. I reached abroad by the powerful will of our people,” he said.

He claimed last week that he waited on the Kurdistan border for several days before he tried other ways to reach Europe for a conference.

At the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in the German capital Berlin last week, Muslim said he had traveled from Erbil to Rojava, or Syrian Kurdistan, to attend the funeral of his son, who died in clashes with jihadi fighters. Salih claimed he was not permitted to return to Iraqi Kurdistan.

“When I was in Erbil, I was told my going to Rojava and return to Kurdistan Region was not an issue. On this basis I visited Rojava to attend the funeral of my son, Servan,” he said.

In the past, the KDP and PYD have exchanged accusations over border closures and stopping humanitarian aid from reaching Syria’s Kurdish regions.

The dominant PYD is a disciplined and powerful Kurdish party in Rojava, with its own fighting force known as the People Defense Units (YPG).

In the past several months YPG fighters have been locked in pitched battles with al-Qaeda’s  Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusrah, who have tried to bring their fight against the Damascus regime into the relatively stable Kurdish areas.

In June 2012, the PYD signed an agreement with all other Kurdish groups in Syria to form a united force and a joint administration. However, the group is now accused of violating the Erbil agreement and suppressing other Kurdish groups.

Syrian Kurdish factions so far have remained neutral in the Syrian conflict. They have refused to fight against or side with Damascus. They believe the best solution for Syria is to adopt a federal system and for the country’s Kurdish regions to push for self-rule, modeled on Iraq’s  autonomous Kurdistan Region.

Meanwhile, the KRG Interior Ministry also denied it had closed the border with Syrian Kurdistan, saying it was the PYD which was responsible for the closure.

Muslim is to attend the Geneva II peace conference in Switzerland that is expected to be held next month.

The PYD has been at loggerheads with other Syrian Kurdish factions over control of Syria’s Kurdish areas. It is also accused of having links with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.