ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Asmahan Dawoodi, a member of KNC representation office in the Kurdistan Region, called on Kurds to defend ‘their soil’ in Afrin against Turkish attacks, while also advocating for KNC diplomacy abroad.
“We call on the people of Afrin to defend their soil…” the Kurdish National Council (KNC, ENKS) member told Rudaw in an interview on Saturday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has failed to resolve the ‘Kurdish question’ in Turkey and rid it of the PKK.
“Erdogan’s goal is the ‘Kurdish question,’ not YPG, as he claims,” said Dawoodi
“Turkey is making deals with Russia and USA on the account of Kurdish blood,” she said during an interview with Rudaw on Saturday. “We, as ENKS, will not accept deals on Kurdish blood and soil.”
The KNC has attended some of intra-Syrian negotiations brokered by Russia, Turkey, and Iran in Astana. She also said that ENKS representatives visit international bodies and countries to pressure Turkey to stop its attacks.
“ENKS is present in everywhere,” said Dawoodi. “Now our representative is in Geneva.”
The PYD is the largest Kurdish political party in Syria, but because of Turkish objections, have been shut out of peace talks.
The KNC, a political umbrella, has also had representation in the war-torn country, but the KNC and PYD have disagreed on governance. The disagreements have led to violence, jailing and displacement, and their feud remains unresolved.
ENKS has boycotted elections by the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria, which seeks to achieve a Kurdish enclave in Syrian Kurdistan. YPG, which is the armed wing of the PYD, is the dominant Kurdish force currently in Rojava.
Rojava consists of three regions: Afrin in the west, the Euphrates in the centre, and Jazira in the east.
Other KNC members have said the PYD imposed itself on Rojava through “the use of force” and they were going to refrain from taking part in the “illegitimate” elections.”
“The Syrian [crisis] should be resolved through political means, not military means, as decided by international [community] and the UN. Turkey cannot gain anything through military means,” Dawoodi said to Rudaw.
Erdogan cannot launch any military campaign against Afrin because “neither Russia nor the USA has given him a green light,” claimed the representative.
She advised Erdogan to make deals through congresses and conferences and not through military means.
“Let’s suppose Erdogan controlled Afrin, what can he change? On the contrary, he will deteriorate Syrian crisis,” she said.
The areas around Afrin, which Turkey either directly controls militarily or through its Free Syrian Army (FSA) proxies, effectively isolates the canton from the other parts of Rojava.
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