Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mikdad said that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terror organization is just another Daesh, according to a report by an Iran-based newspaper.
In a statement given to Iranian al-Alam Newspaper, Mikdad said that the PKK is fighting to protect American interests and aims to divide Syria.
“They cannot be trusted because they are forces serving the Americans and the plans of the West against the Syrian people.”
Stating that the PKK aimed to overthrow the Syrian state and breakup the country, “They are not working for the Syrian people,” he said
Mikdad, one of the prominent figures in the Assad administration, also said that the PKK terror organization does not accept being part of the Syrian Arab Republic, and if it continues to be a puppet of the U.S. and Western countries, it will share the same fate as Daesh.
He also revealed in his statement that the PKK is using territories under its occupation to blackmail the regime in order to secure its political interests.
The Riyadh and Geneva processes couldn’t be successful
Additionally, Mikdad declared that the U.S.-sponsored Riyadh and Geneva peace processes have failed, while stressing that important breakthroughs have been made in Astana.
He insisted that “the Astana process must continue,” and shared his belief that successful negotiations can be reached through this platform.
PKK responds to Mikdad’s statements
In response to the anti-PKK comments made by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his deputy FM, the terror organization said that “the Syrian regime and the Assad administration have reached their expiration date.”
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
The U.S. has provided the PYD/YPG, which are Syrian branches of the terrorist organization, with over 4,000 trucks containing weapons to reportedly use against the fight with Daesh, despite Ankara’s warnings that they are offshoots of the PKK.
