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Kurdish official: US does not have to choose between the Kurds and Turkey
ARA News ^ | April 30, 2017 | Ilham Ahmed

Posted on 04/30/2017 11:23:17 AM PDT by Texas Fossil

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Ilham Ahmed, the co-president of the Democratic Council of Syria. File photo

Ilham Ahmed, the co-president of the Democratic Council of Syria, said that the United States should not choose between Turkey and the Kurds in Syria.

Ahmed accused Turkey of turning a blind eye to terrorism.

“Erdogan is trying to force the United States to choose between us [Syrian Kurds] and Turkey. We don’t think such a choice is necessary, but it is worth considering what that choice entails,” she said.

“The Turks said they bombed our headquarters because they claimed our territory is being used to launch attacks against Turkey, but those accusations are unfounded,” she said in an op-ed published by the Washington Post.

“Let me be as clear as can be: We have never used northern Syria to launch any attack against Turkey. If Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doesn’t trust us when we say this, fine. But why can’t he trust the U.S. personnel in our area who assure him of the same?”

“Erdogan justifies these illegal attacks with the same baseless claim: that the YPG is the same as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is currently fighting the government inside Turkey. This claim is based on the fact that we share a founder and many intellectual values with the PKK — but this is equally true of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a legal political party in Turkey with 58 members in the Turkish parliament,” she stated.

“They are no more PKK than we are, and any attempt to equate us with the PKK is disingenuous,” she added.

“Erdogan knows this. He knows that our political and military leadership is completely separate from that of the PKK. He knows that any attempt to combine YPG with PKK would run contrary to our core value of decentralization of power. He knows we are not using northern Syria to launch attacks on Turkey. He knows all this. He just doesn’t care,” co-president of the Democratic Council of Syria said.

Furthermore, she accused Turkey of doing nothing to defeat al-Qaida in Syria.

“If Erdogan was a true U.S. ally, then instead of dropping bombs on the headquarters of the YPG, which currently hosts more than 1,000 U.S. military personnel, Turkey would seek to destroy al-Qaeda, which has set up bases in Idlib, right along the Turkish border. Al-Qaeda in Idlib is among the largest affiliates in the organization’s history. (That’s according to U.S. officials, by the way.) Yet Turkey does nothing,” she added, while the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are 10 miles away from Raqqa–the ISIS’ de facto capital.

“In the past month alone, the SDF captured dozens of villages around Raqqa from the Islamic State, and we will not stop until the last supporter of the caliphate has been vanquished,” she said.

“To be clear, we do not want to escalate the conflict with Turkey. Yes, we believe that Erdogan, who is turning a blind eye to terrorism as he aspires to build his totalitarian state, is on the wrong side of history. As he looks outward in his aggression, we look inward, in a spirit of optimism and progress, toward a better Syria,” she stated.

“We do not believe that the United States needs to choose between us and Turkey. With each passing day, however, it becomes clearer who the United States’ true ally in this conflict is,” she concluded.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Syria
KEYWORDS: airattack; kurd; turkey; us
Syrian Democratic Council Co-President Ilham Ahmed says the US should not have to choose between Syria and Turkey.

But lets be honest, the real decision is between supporting Terrorism and supporting Freedom. That decision will be made by Turkey's actions.

She is right.

1 posted on 04/30/2017 11:23:17 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
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To: BeauBo; Candor7; ColdOne; Navy Patriot

Syria/Turkey Ping

Statement by Co-President Syrian Democratic Council


2 posted on 04/30/2017 11:26:59 AM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Texas Fossil

That was a very well constructed statement. She is diplomatic material.


3 posted on 04/30/2017 11:27:57 AM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: Gen.Blather

She has a strong following and great reputation.

Thank you for seeing the merit of what she said.

Erdogan will not see this. It will be his own choice. It will be between supporting Terrorists and supporting Freedom. (Islamists do not believe in Freedom, only in Subjection)


4 posted on 04/30/2017 11:30:31 AM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Gen.Blather

FYI, my closest Kurdish friends often see the responses to things I post here. I send links to some and they see the feedback, positive and not. It has helped them to understand how we feel about foreign involvement.


5 posted on 04/30/2017 11:32:58 AM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Texas Fossil

Turkey is an absolute trouble maker as their Islamic government and regional ambitions go. They need to be slapped down. I do agree that picking sides is unnecessary and costly.


6 posted on 04/30/2017 12:17:33 PM PDT by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: All

USA, put Turkey in its place. Slap the Turks if they do not stop harming the YPG.


7 posted on 04/30/2017 12:27:08 PM PDT by veracious (UN = OIC = Islam ; Democrats may change USAgov completely, just amend USConstitution)
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To: Texas Fossil
Kurdish official: US does not have to choose between the Kurds and Turkey

Nope, the US must choose between Erdogan and Civilization, a much easier choice.

8 posted on 04/30/2017 12:38:12 PM PDT by Navy Patriot (America returns to the Rule of Law)
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To: Texas Fossil

We don’t have to choose any of them!

These wars are their problem (and long standing going back centuries).


9 posted on 04/30/2017 1:01:30 PM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Texas Fossil

in my own small sphere of influence, I try to present the truth to any who that misrepresent the Kurdish people or those unaware that there is a attempt to destroy the Kurds as a separate people.


10 posted on 04/30/2017 2:12:56 PM PDT by Boowhoknew
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To: Boowhoknew

I agree.

Only since Kobani have I realized how bad it has been for them for generations. Cultural genocide is just as bad as the more recognizable forms. The end result is the same, just takes a lot longer.


11 posted on 04/30/2017 5:52:26 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Lorianne

Trump ran on platform of ending ISIS.

Do you want the Terrorists ended? If you do, this is the shortest path and most effective path.


12 posted on 04/30/2017 5:54:48 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Navy Patriot

agree.


13 posted on 04/30/2017 5:55:42 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Texas Fossil

Rubbish
ISIS or ISIS-like groups have been around for over a thousand years. Muslims have been fighting Muslims for over a thousand years.

Trump may mean well but neither he nor anyone else is going to ‘end ISIS’. He’s not going to make Muslims get along with each other.

We don’t need Americans dying trying to force Muslims to get along with each other.


14 posted on 04/30/2017 9:11:59 PM PDT by Lorianne
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