In the last section of the first day of the 13th Kurdish Conference in the European Parliament, PYD Co-chair Salih Muslim said, “The Kurds are fighting not just for themselves but also for the peoples of the region.”
In the last section of the EP Kurdish Conference that started in Brussels, Belgium yesterday PYD Co-chair Salih Muslim spoke in the “Alternative Methods of Democracy for the Middle East” session. Muslim answered questions from American writer Carne Ross and experienced British journalist Jonathan Steele in a special section of the conference. In the hour-long interview, Salih Muslim spoke on the Middle East, Syria, Rojava and their own demands.
“THE SYSTEM WE WANT TO ESTABLISH IS FOR THE WHOLE REGION”
PYD Co-chair Salih Muslim mentioned the struggle of the Kurds in the Middle East and continued his speech: “The Kurdish people are fighting today for all the peoples of the region. These are humanitarian values. Today these values are under a great attack. Kurds are trying to protect these values, and for that they display great heroism. Our people were divided by the Sykes-Picot treaty a century ago, but today they have voided this treaty.”
Muslim underlined that they see the system they are trying to establish in Rojava as a model for the whole region and said: “The nation-state mentality needs to change. We need a revolution against the sexist mentality. This is what want to do in the region today.”
Salih Muslim also mentioned the Turkish army’s attacks on Rojava and Syria and said: “The ideology we are facing attacks all the gains of the Kurds. They think ‘the best Kurd is the dead Kurd’. ISIS and the jihadist groups didn’t just fall from the sky. Turkey and similar countries unleashed them upon the region. The relationship between Turkey and ISIS continues still. If they can, they will destroy all the gains in Rojava. They will even attack the gains in Southern Kurdistan.”
“RAQQA NEEDS TO BE CLEARED OF ISIS”
PYD Co-chair also mentioned their relationship with the US and said: “The US tried to use the Kurds. But what happened was, they discovered them when the Kurds stopped ISIS. They understood the system the Kurds implemented. Now the whole world knows us. But there is this question: How will the US accept the Kurds that they didn’t accept before? We want to develop our relationship further. Before they refused us, but now they meet with us directly. It’s not like before when they asked of us to the Turks and the Saudi Arabs. Of course there are still those who don’t meet with us because they refrain from Turkey.
Muslim criticized the UN meetings and emphasized that they need to be invited. When asked about their alleged relationship with the Assad regime, Muslim said: “We only defended ourselves, and built our own path. We ensured the safety of our people and we acted together with the international coalition against ISIS.”
Muslim also mentioned the Raqqa operation: “Everybody thinks we launched the Raqqa operation on the US’ demand. That is wrong. Raqqa is at a strategic location. It is very close to Kobanê. So we launched this operation for the security of Rojava. We can’t let ISIS use Raqqa. Raqqa needs to be cleared of ISIS.”
PYD Co-chair Salih Muslim underlined that they are trying to establish the social and the economic system despite the ongoing embargo in Rojava.
