YPG fighters from Finland: No coincidence Turku attacker targeted women
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Two Finnish men and a Spaniard fighting with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) condemned the recent attacks claimed by ISIS in Turku, Finland, and Barcelona, Spain, and said "barbaric ideology" led to the stabbings in Turku.
"We would like to pay our respect to the victims and the families of the victims," Ariel Shervan said in a video published on Sunday night by YPG Press Office. It is common for YPG trainees to take Kurdish noms de guerre.
The knife attack in southwestern Finland on Friday killed two Finnish women. Five other women, two men and a 15-year-old girl were also wounded.
"It's not a coincidence that the attack [in Finland] deliberately targeted women. It's an action that comes from the choice of the barbaric ideology that these jihadists have," the other Finnish YPG member Bagok Kulleryo said, who also didn't reveal his true name.
Finland's National Bureau of Investigation said an 18-year-old Moroccan suspect is hospitalized after being shot by Finnish police.
"We as international volunteers, taking the fight to them on the frontlines in Raqqa together with the women of YPJ, are not just fighting for the rights of women here in Syria and Rojava, but actually for the rights of women all around the world," Kulleryo added.
Foreign YPG member Ariel Shervan and Bagok Kullervo speak from Syria about recent attacks in Barcelona and Turku. Photo: YPG Press
Wali Hashi, a journalist who witnessed the attack in Turku said in an interview that police chased the knife-wielding man who was screaming "God is great" in Arabic, a claim Finnish authorities haven't confirmed.
"Just don't give into fear and hatred because this is a time when we need to stand together and we hope that the people in Europe and in Finland give us their support and solidarity," Kulleryo concluded, which Shervan re-iterated in Finnish.
On Thursday in Barcelona a van was driven into the crowded La Rambla plaza, killing 13 people and injuring at least 100. As of Monday morning, Catalan interior minister Joaquim Forn told Catalunya Radio that authorities are still hunting for 22-year-old suspect Moroccan Younes Abouyaaqoub, the alleged van driver.
Shiyar Santucho, a Spanish YPG member also said to be speaking from northern Syria, called Barcelona a vicious attack that he condemned.
"I want to make it very clear that we are going to fight for them and fight for all the victims of this so-called caliphate, here and everywhere in the world," said Santucho.
"Let's not fall in their trap. They want us to start fearing foreigners and to start criminalizing the Muslim community..." added Santucho. "Let's not play their game. Let's be one step ahead and find our strength in unity and diversity."
Spain has been a member of the US-led global anti-ISIS coalition. The latest attack was claimed by ISIS through its affiliated media, as reported by The Associated Press.
Finland has largely been spared mass attacks, but in June raised its threat assessment to the second level of a four-step scale.
The Finnish Security Intelligence Service says the country’s “stronger profile within the radical Islamist propaganda” led to the change, and the country is now listed as a partner of the global anti-ISIS coalition.
Pekka Hiltunen of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (FINO) told reporters Saturday that the agency was investigating the suspects' connections to ISIS, since ISIS "has previously encouraged this kind of behavior."
The incident has divided Finland, splitting pro-immigration advocates and isolationists.
Hundreds of foreigners have joined YPG in Syria since the rise of ISIS in 2014.
Kurdish fighters comprise about half of the 50,000-strong Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance backed by the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition. They are currently fighting to retake Raqqa from ISIS.