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‘Our fate until now has been connected to Bashar’s’

July 30, 2013 Ozdiemer Mohammad, 23, is a university senior […]


30 July 2013

July 30, 2013

Ozdiemer Mohammad, 23, is a university senior in communications studying in the northeastern city of Qamishli. Mohammed is a political independent, and tells Nuha Shabaan about why he hopes for a Kurdish state living in peace next to the Arabs, but does not place much faith in the ruling PYD party to deliver it.

Q: What do you think about the meeting between the head of the Kurdish PYD party, Saleh Muslim, and Turkish officials in Istanbul?

A: I think Kurds should have their own autonomy. We Kurds have been on the margin for long time during Assad rule, and we didn’t get our rights as Kurds We don’t want the PYD to control us because it is like the regime in its dealings with people. Anyone who isn’t with this party is considered an enemy, just like the regime’s style in silencing opponents.

Q: What’s your take on the PYD party?

A: The PYD party doesn’t have a huge public base among the Kurds because it has strong relations with the regime and all the Kurds know that. I think the party is trying to please us by establishing our state. Yes we want our own Kurdish state, but we don’t want that from an agent of Syrian intelligence.

Their group is fully armed and these practices are creating a chasm in the Kurdish street, shaking its stability, and it’s not right for any party to singularly decide the fate of the Kurds.

I feel defeated because of how the party is acting. I ask my brothers in the PYD to go back to the Kurdish street because these practices are unacceptable. We don’t want to get rid of Bashar to be ruled by someone raised under his tutelage.

Q: What is the importance of the Turkish acceptance of provisional Kurdish rule in Syria?

A: I don’t think Turkey will allow a Kurdish state to be established on its borders because it is scared. I think the circumstances are not suitable for establishing such a state. Our fate until now has been connected to Bashar’s and that of his his companions. First we must get rid of the regime. After that, we will agree on creating a Kurdish state of our own.

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