Kurdish Party Accuses Russia of Granting Türkiye Green Light to Attack N. Syria

A Kurdish security forces member in Syria’s al-Hol camp in Hasakeh, August 14, 2022. (AFP)
A Kurdish security forces member in Syria’s al-Hol camp in Hasakeh, August 14, 2022. (AFP)
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Kurdish Party Accuses Russia of Granting Türkiye Green Light to Attack N. Syria

A Kurdish security forces member in Syria’s al-Hol camp in Hasakeh, August 14, 2022. (AFP)
A Kurdish security forces member in Syria’s al-Hol camp in Hasakeh, August 14, 2022. (AFP)

The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) accused on Friday Russia of giving Türkiye the greenlight to attack Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

Prominent member of the PYD Ahmed Khoja told Asharq Al-Awsat that despite Russian and Iranian reassurances that Ankara would not be allowed to invade northeastern Syria by land, “it appears that Russia has allowed Türkiye to resort to drone and artillery attacks.”

The intensification of attacks is a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “implicit” agreement to Türkiye’s actions, he added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been given the green light to carry out these attacks to pressure the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and its autonomous administration to prevent the Kurds from obtaining their rights, Khoja continued.

Furthermore, he charged that the Syrian regime was “incapable” of carrying out attacks on and seizing the regions of the autonomous administration because these areas are well fortified and defended.

Damascus is therefore “satisfied with the Turkish attacks,” he added, noting that it has struck “secret security agreements” with Ankara.

Khoja’s remarks were the first by a Kurdish official in wake of the recent rapprochement between Damascus and Ankara.

Türkiye, he said, has a “phobia of the Kurdish people.”

It is prepared to abandon all of its demands and even turn against its allies to “strike and destroy any democratic project led by the Kurds in the region,” he stressed.



Israeli ‘Aggression’ Targets Syria’s Homs Countryside, State News Agency Says

 A man rides a motorbike past damaged buildings in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A man rides a motorbike past damaged buildings in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli ‘Aggression’ Targets Syria’s Homs Countryside, State News Agency Says

 A man rides a motorbike past damaged buildings in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A man rides a motorbike past damaged buildings in Homs, Syria November 7, 2024. (Reuters)

Initial reports indicate that an Israeli "aggression" targeted two villages in northern and western areas of Syria's Homs province, the Syrian state news agency said on Tuesday.

Earlier, Syrian state television said blasts had been heard in the vicinity of Homs city and that the cause was under investigation.

Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel by Hamas-led fighters.