Vice-president of the Syrian Coalition Abdul Basset Hamou said that the Kurdish National Council (KNC) will continue to resist the authoritarian practices of the militias of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) with all available peaceful means.
“The KNC is fully determined to pursue its peaceful approach,” Hamou told Kullana Shurakaa’ website. “The guiding principle we set for ourselves is that the best interests of our people should take precedence above any other considerations.”
Hamou pointed out that the PYD militias continue to pursue “arbitrary and barbaric policies against our people, such as the closure of the offices of political parties, the forced recruitment, extortion of money, the kidnapping of leading dissident figures, political and media activists as well as the crackdown on civil society organizations, the stifling of political and economic life and the imposition of ideology-driven curriculum in schools.”
The PYD militias are seeking to ignite an infighting among the Kurds with the aim of distracting the people away from their primary goals and concerns, Hamou said. He said that “the KNC does nourish hope that the PYD will give up its authoritarian policies as a totalitarian party.”
On the relationship between the KNC and the Coalition, Hamou pointed out that the Council is a major component of the Coalition, adding that the two sides signed off on an agreement on a common vision for the future of Syria. The Council also participated in all the previous meetings in Geneva and is a major component of the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
