Turkey rejects accepting Kurds autonomy in Syria

Turkey rejects accepting Kurds autonomy in Syria
Fri Nov 15, 2013 16:44:02

Turkey has warned that it would not accept this week's declaration of provisional self-rule by Kurds in neighboring war-torn Syria.

"Turkey cannot permit a fait accompli, there is no question of accepting such a thing in Syria," Turkish President Abdullah Gul said in televised comments in eastern Turkey.

"We cannot allow Syria, which is faced with major chaos, to disintegrate," Gul, whose country has been one of the greatest supporters of the war in Syria said.

For three decades, Turkey and Kurds have been suffering from a deadly conflict but Ankara has been alarmed by Kurds’ considerable gains against Syria militants as they tried to keep the armed groups away from their dominated lands. 

Saleh Muslim, head of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party said on Thursday that Turkey has been trying hard to stop Kurd’s improvements.

“They are trying to divide the Kurds by bringing certain (Kurdish) parties into the (opposition) Syrian National Coalition (SNC),” he said. “They are just trying to keep the Kurds from representing themselves,” he said.

On Monday, Kurdish militia dominated by a party close to Turkey's main Kurdish grouping declared provisional self-rule in Syrian areas under their control.

The move raised alarm in Ankara, whose campaign against the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has left more than 40,000 people dead.

It is currently involved in the latest attempt to strike a peace deal with the outlawed group.

The Syrian Kurdish militia, dominated by a PKK sister party, the Democratic Union Party, hold large chunks of northwestern Syria near the Turkish border.

The Syrian Kurd declaration was blasted by the main Western-backed opposition alliance, which dubbed the Kurdish groups "hostile" forces.

Kurds have lost scores of people in attacks by Syrian opposition's al-Qaeda-linked groups on their regions.

Aside from decades-long conflicts, Kurds have been criticizing Turkish government for letting hundreds of Takfiri militants enter Kurdish regions in Syria.

The war in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the turmoil that has gripped Syria for over two years.

SHI/SHI

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