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From left: State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel speaking to reporters on May 30, 2024, and Rojava government logo
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Thursday said that northeast Syria (Rojava) does not have conditions for free and fair elections, weeks ahead of the Kurdish administration’s local polls. The main opposition has boycotted the vote and Turkey has signaled a fresh military campaign if the process is held.
“Any elections that occur in Syria should be free, fair, transparent and inclusive, as called for in UN Security Council Resolution 2254. We don't think that the conditions for such elections are in place in northeast Syria in present time. We've conveyed this to a range of actors in northeast Syria,” State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda during a press briefing on Thursday.
The people of Rojava as well as other Kurdish-held areas such as Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor will choose mayors on June 11.
The Kurdish National Council (ENKS/KNC), the main Kurdish opposition group in Rojava, is boycotting the elections. The party members of the umbrella group have come under numerous attacks blamed on armed people affiliated with the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD), the political wing of the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The YPG is the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which territorially defeated the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2019 after five years of fierce fighting.
Sulaiman Oso, a senior official from the ENKS, told Rudaw English late Thursday that the elections will not be fair because the PYD is militarily powerful, claiming that thousands of the members of the security forces will be forced to vote for the ruling party’s candidates.
He added that the PYD has "threatened" people to register their names for the elections or else there will be consequences.
He accused the PYD of violating an agreement with the ENKS which stipulated how the elections should be held.
"Therefore we have decided to completely boycott the elections," he noted. "We know that the results are already clear. Our participation will legitimize the process."
Oso said around ten of their offices have been attacked in Rojava in the last two months.
“We are troubled by continuing reports of attacks on KNC offices in northern Syria and urgently call for these attacks to stop,” the US embassy in Syria said last month.
“We also call on all parties to engage in peaceful, meaningful discourse to advance the aspirations of the Syrian people without violence,” added the embassy, which has been closed since the eruption of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Washington is the guarantor of talks between the ENKS and PYD which have been stalled for years due to disagreements. Although the process was initiated a decade ago, it remained dormant until late 2019 when it entered a new phase.
The ENKS parties do not recognize the Kurdish administration in Rojava and have declined to officially register themselves. In December 2019, the administration decided to allow the ENKS to continue political activities without requiring permission.
Turkey has also opposed the June 11 elections in Rojava.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Ankara is “closely following the aggressive actions by the terrorist organization against the territorial integrity of our country and of Syria under the pretext of an election,” The Associated Press cited him as saying.
“Turkey will never allow the separatist organization to establish (a terror state) just beyond its southern borders in the north of Syria and Iraq,” he added.
Turkey has carried out several major military campaigns against Rojava, claiming that the YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The Rojava government responded to Erdogan’s remarks, denying that the polls threaten Turkey’s security.
“These elections do not target any political party, whether internally or externally. Its primary goal is to achieve good service for the citizens of NE Syria, Therefore, these elections will enhance stability and peaceful coexistence in the region, and will also play a positive role in developing the comprehensive Syrian solution,” the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) said in a statement, reported by ANHA news outlet.
“Any elections that occur in Syria should be free, fair, transparent and inclusive, as called for in UN Security Council Resolution 2254. We don't think that the conditions for such elections are in place in northeast Syria in present time. We've conveyed this to a range of actors in northeast Syria,” State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda during a press briefing on Thursday.
The people of Rojava as well as other Kurdish-held areas such as Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor will choose mayors on June 11.
The Kurdish National Council (ENKS/KNC), the main Kurdish opposition group in Rojava, is boycotting the elections. The party members of the umbrella group have come under numerous attacks blamed on armed people affiliated with the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD), the political wing of the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The YPG is the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which territorially defeated the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2019 after five years of fierce fighting.
Sulaiman Oso, a senior official from the ENKS, told Rudaw English late Thursday that the elections will not be fair because the PYD is militarily powerful, claiming that thousands of the members of the security forces will be forced to vote for the ruling party’s candidates.
He added that the PYD has "threatened" people to register their names for the elections or else there will be consequences.
He accused the PYD of violating an agreement with the ENKS which stipulated how the elections should be held.
"Therefore we have decided to completely boycott the elections," he noted. "We know that the results are already clear. Our participation will legitimize the process."
Oso said around ten of their offices have been attacked in Rojava in the last two months.
“We are troubled by continuing reports of attacks on KNC offices in northern Syria and urgently call for these attacks to stop,” the US embassy in Syria said last month.
“We also call on all parties to engage in peaceful, meaningful discourse to advance the aspirations of the Syrian people without violence,” added the embassy, which has been closed since the eruption of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Washington is the guarantor of talks between the ENKS and PYD which have been stalled for years due to disagreements. Although the process was initiated a decade ago, it remained dormant until late 2019 when it entered a new phase.
The ENKS parties do not recognize the Kurdish administration in Rojava and have declined to officially register themselves. In December 2019, the administration decided to allow the ENKS to continue political activities without requiring permission.
Turkey has also opposed the June 11 elections in Rojava.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Ankara is “closely following the aggressive actions by the terrorist organization against the territorial integrity of our country and of Syria under the pretext of an election,” The Associated Press cited him as saying.
“Turkey will never allow the separatist organization to establish (a terror state) just beyond its southern borders in the north of Syria and Iraq,” he added.
Turkey has carried out several major military campaigns against Rojava, claiming that the YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The Rojava government responded to Erdogan’s remarks, denying that the polls threaten Turkey’s security.
“These elections do not target any political party, whether internally or externally. Its primary goal is to achieve good service for the citizens of NE Syria, Therefore, these elections will enhance stability and peaceful coexistence in the region, and will also play a positive role in developing the comprehensive Syrian solution,” the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) said in a statement, reported by ANHA news outlet.
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