Democratic Union Party (PYD) Co-chair Salih Muslim spoke to the ANF on the Raqqa operation, Turkey’s invasion attacks, the national congress and the referendum in Bashurê (Southern) Kurdistan.

“ISIS HAS BEEN SURROUNDED IN RAQQA”

Muslim stated that the advance in Raqqa continues on day 75 and added: “The advance continues, and the operation is going well. But it can’t be rushed because there are civilians there. There are great efforts to differentiate between ISIS members who pose as civilians and actual civilians. Nobody knows how many actual civilians there are, nobody can make an estimate. That is why the operation is advancing slowly. But ISIS has been surrounded, their ties to the outside have been severed. ISIS knows their end is drawing near in Raqqa, but they think ‘I will have as high a rank in paradise as the number of people I kill’. They fight with this in mind, they know they are going to die in the end and according to their ideology, they believe they will go to paradise.”

“THE KURDISH PEOPLE WILL ACHIEVE THEIR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS”

On the situation of Kurds in Rojava after he Raqqa operation, Muslim said: “Our project is the Democratic Syria Project.”

Muslim said they are slowly starting with the project and continued: “The project we will implement is not just about the Kurdish issue, there are other peoples and organizations in the assembly to be gathered. It’s not just about the Kurds, everybody is together and in unity here. A democratic system is being developed and this will spread throughout Syria in time. And at the same time, the Kurdish people will achieve their own democratic rights.”

“TURKEY WILL HIT ROUGH WEATHER IF THEY ATTACK EFRÎN”

Muslim also spoke about Turkey’s plans on Efrîn and said: “If they attack, they will hit rough weather. Efrîn will resist until the end and will never be any less than Kobanê.”

PYD Co-chair said the following: “Turkey has already invaded parts of Syria. If they attempt to expand on it, or if they turn towards Efrîn, the people certainly will resist. The resistance continues in Shehba right now. The people there, the youth and the organizations do fight against this. If they make such an attempt, they will hit rough weather. They should see this: Efrîn will never be any less than Kobanê, and will resist until the end. At this point it’s their decision. Efrîn is not against anybody. In the 6 years, they have never fired a bullet against anyone. On the contrary, they have been hit by tanks and artilleries, but the people stayed calm. If they attack, the attackers will have trouble.”

“THE CONGRESS SHOULD TAKE PLACE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE”

Müslim said the following on the national congress efforts the KNK started: “The efforts for a national congress must continue, and the congress should take place as soon as possible. Because the Kurds, as the Kurdish people and the people of Kurdistan, are going through a critical process. At times like this, there must be a body to coordinate, be addressed as an authority and resolve policies. And that body is the Kurdistan National Congress. We will do all we can to overcome all problems and have this process completed.”

Muslim also spoke about the obstacles the national congress faced and pointed out that there are two: One being the “mindset” and the other “interests”. He said the following:

“Those with a bad mindset say, ‘If others don’t stand behind me, if there is no support from other states, how can we do this?’ So they don’t trust themselves, they don’t trust the people. Not trusting the will of your own people is a very wrong mindset to have.

They say, ‘If I get close with Kurdish unity or pursue Kurdish politics, my interests with so and so will be damaged.’ They have this idea. Two of the greatest obstacles are these. We have overcome these in Rojava, the people trust in themselves. We hope this can happen everywhere, and if it at least happens with political parties one obstacle will be overcome. So, it is a matter of mindset and interests. Interests tied to outsiders or others are never desired. If one truly wants to have gains, one’s future interests will lay with their next generation and their people. I think if we get over this thinking we will be closer to unity.”

THE REFERENDUM IN SOUTHERN KURDISTAN

On the independence referendum in Bashurê Kurdistan, PYD Co-chair Salih Muslim said “We will respect the will of the Kurdish people,“ and continued: “This is an internal issue for Bashur. We have always said we will respect the will of the Kurdish people there. But right now, Bashur is a problematic place. It’s unclear whether certain regions are under Kurdistan or not. The enemies already lie in wait. Despite these facts, we will always respect the will of the people there.”