ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has no presence in northeast Syria (Rojava), a top PKK commander said on Monday amid calls for the group's alleged fighters to leave the country.
“We openly announce that we as the PKK are not present in Rojava. We do not have any organic ties with any organizations. Everyone knows when we went and returned,” Murat Karayilan told the PKK-affiliated Sterk TV during an interview aired on Monday.
He elaborated that their fighters descended from mountains to take part in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Kurdish areas in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
Turkey often targets Rojava on the grounds of striking the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) - the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Ankara considers the YPG the Syrian offshoot of the PKK and has labeled both as terrorist groups.
Mazloum Abdi, SDF chief, has also said several times that the PKK no longer exists in Rojava.
Karayilan explained that the display of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan’s portraits in Rojava does not mean they are PKK members, but rather considering them followers of Ocalan’s “philosophy.”
Following the recent collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Syrian Kurds have expressed their willingness to be part of the new government and mend ties with Ankara but Turkey has said its objective in Syria is to end YPG rule.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday that they still consider YPG as a branch of the PKK.
"The YPG is an organization run by international terrorist fighters coming from Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Europe. Although the Americans may market this situation to the world differently, the reality is clear,” he added.
“Elimination of YPG is Turkey’s strategic goal," Fidan Turkish NTV broadcaster on Friday, adding that the alleged members of the PKK should leave Syria.
Responding to a Rudaw question about the possibility of ending hostilities between Ankara and the SDF during a press conference in Doha last week, Fidan said, “In short, no, unless they change themselves.”
