Kurdish alliance demands Turkish forces withdraw from Rojava

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – On Thursday, the Kurdish National Council in Syria (ENKS), demanded a complete withdrawal of Turkish forces that have been stationed one kilometer inside Syrian territory, close to the village of Sermisax, 80 kilometers east of the large Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli since Wednesday.

A written statement provided to K24 by Judaan Ali, the Erbil representative of the Council, known by its acronym ENKS, said that the Turkish deployment could significantly increase tensions in the Kurdish Region in Syria.

ENKS expressed concern over the recent deployment of 200 Turkish soldiers and called for international protection to in order provide security and stability in Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan).

The statement also condemned the continuing Turkish army and police operations in several towns in the Kurdish provinces of Mardin, Sirnak, and Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey and called for an immediate ceasefire between Turkish forces and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters.

ENKS expressed concern over civilian deaths and mass displacement taking place in the areas where the fights mount on, which is reported to be upwards of 200,000 civilians.

Hundreds of civilians, PKK fighters, and Turkish forces have been killed in mostly urban clashes since last August when a two-year ceasefire collapsed.

"The Turkish government must take practical and radical steps toward achieving a peaceful solution to the Kurdish Question, in dialogue with the Kurdish parties," the statement read.

ENKS called on the PKK to achieve "the utmost efforts to revive the peace process launched by Mr. [Abdullah] Ocalan," referring to the imprisoned PKK leader who managed to initiate peace negotiations with the Turkish government in 2013.

The statement further called on the PKK and Turkish government "to move to the language of dialogue in order to secure the national rights of the Kurdish people in the Kurdistan of Turkey [sic] in accordance with international conventions and covenants."

ENKS was founded in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2011. The alliance is made up of several Kurdish political parties within Rojava but lacks the backing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), that currently administers the self-declared autonomous Kurdish cantons of Jazira, Kobani, and Afrin in Northern Syria.