Democratic Union Party (PYD) Co-presidency Board Member Foza Yûsif commented on the latest statements by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who ignored Kurds saying "in Syria there is not such a question as the Kurdish question."

Foza Yûsif made the comments on a special program on Ronahi Tv where she answered questions by Mihemed Seydî.

Yûsif  said: "There is no table in the Middle East, and since all the tables are overthrown, there is so much war and conflict chaos. What the Syrian President says is a repetition of what he has said before. We know these declarations and approach very well. The reason for the 9 years long war which is devastating Syria is precisely this mentality and approach."

These statements of denial are a failed policy

Yûsif added: "Turkey has something to do with these statements. Knowing the phobia with Kurds that Turkey has, here is a message for it, [Assad] is saying, let's get closer on certain issues. This is a very classic politics and is also a failed one, one doomed to collapse. This is not a policy bringing a solution to Syria. In his statements, Assad says that there is no Armenian question, no Syriac question, no Kurdish question and of course neither a Druze nor a Sunni question. So that's good, then what's the problem in Syria, one may ask."

Yûsif continued: "Ignoring and denying the problems is actually political suicide. At the same time, addressing problems in this way leads to more foreign intervention and makes Syria a second Iraq. Such statements contain negative signs rather than hope for a solution.

"The words 'the Kurdish case is an imaginary case' are words that complement Erdogan's words,'If you do not think about it, it doesn't exist'. The two sentences actually have one common denominator, which is denial."

If you deny a people, that people has the right to resist

Yûsif went on: "If you deny a people, that people has the right to resist. This leads to an even worse situation in Syria. That is why these are words that need attention. We all have to act responsibly. What caused hundreds of thousands of people to die in Syria and millions of people to migrate? This denial policy has caused a revolt. Where did the revolt begin? It started in Dera. There was denial of the Arab people there. So the problem is not the same as in the statements made."

Yûsif  continued: "The Kurds didn't come from anywhere. The Kurds were in this land, they were born here, they grew up here. For how long our roots lie here, let us leave this to historians. Our origins have been in Mesopotamia throughout history. But we never said that this soil is only ours. We act on the basis of the unity of the peoples. We believe that it is the unity of the peoples that will ensure the unity of Syria."

We are struggling for a democratic solution

Once again Yûsif reiterated: "We are struggling for a democratic solution. We have been saying this long before America came. We are for political solution and the unity of Syria. We are saying the same thing all along. We have said this as we progressed and liberated places every day, and we are saying it today when faced with the Turkish occupation.

We did not invite any foreign force to Syria. If the Syrian regime had been fighting against ISIS, America would not come. For example, during the war in Kobanê, ISIS attacked with Syrian tanks. Why? Because the Syrian army did not resist ISIS and ISIS attacked us with their tanks."

We have given more than 500 martyrs in Serêkaniyê

Yûsif  insisted: "We gave no reason to the US to come here, nor did we give any reason to Russia. The same applies to Turkey. Mr. Bashar Assad claimed that we have not shot a single bullet against Turkey. Something to leave you astonished, actually ...

We resisted for 2 months in Afrin, we gave over a thousand martyrs. We have given more than 500 martyrs in Serêkaniyê. As of today, we haven't seen a single plane sent by Syria for Idlib. We gave 11 thousand martyrs against ISIS, but he can easily say that we did not shoot a single bullet."

Statements causing emotional rupture should be avoided

Yûsif ended her remarks by saying: "Had we not resisted the way we did, today Damascus would be either the capital of Abubakir al-Bagdadi's caliphate or the capital of Tahrir al-Sham. Had we not resisted, together with Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor they would have taken Damascus as well. 

The thing that causes the biggest reaction in people is denial. Care should be taken in this regard. Assad should act with a sense of responsibility. Statements causing emotional rupture should be avoided."