Syrian Kurd leader: Nobody takes Turkish arrest warrant seriously

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) Salih Muslim on Tuesday deemed a Turkish arrest warrant for him irrelevant, saying “nobody took it seriously.”

In a telephone interview with the Kurdistan24 television news bulletin, the PYD’s Muslim said the Ankara court that ordered his arrest and that of 47 other people, mostly members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was not an independent one.

Turkish prosecutors accuse Muslim and several senior PKK leaders of being involved in a February bomb attack that killed 29 people in central Ankara claimed by the obscure Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK).

“The charges against me are not true. We condemned the Ankara blast back then; we reject any association with it,” said Muslim, stating he was not a Turkish national.

In the immediate aftermath, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed the US-backed PYD for the attack.

The blast occurred in proximity to the General Staff, the National Assembly, and several ministries.

“In [Turkey’s] view, every Kurd who demands his rights is a terrorist,” Muslim said.

“But the international community has its own standards and sees. What Turkey says is untrue,” added the PYD leader who was speaking from London, UK.

Moreover, Muslim also accused Erdogan of instating a dictatorship in Turkey and controlling the judiciary.

“We are fighting Da’esh in Shahba and Raqqa. Turkey is disturbed by this. That is why they want to create trouble,” added Muslim using the Arabic pejorative for the Islamic State.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany