YPG refuses help from KNC in Kobane
Friction among Kurdish groups as YPG rejects offer of 200 fighters from the KNC.
2 min read
The YPG accepted help from Iraq's Kurdish Peshmerga (AFP)
The Kurdish People's Protection Units [YPG] has again rejected any participation for the Kurdish National Council [KNC] in the battle for Kobane.
The KNC had earlier announced it was ready to join the fight with 200 fighters.
The KNC sent a delegation to Kobane two days ago to meet with leaders from the YPG with the goal of coordinating the entrance of its fighters to help in the battle with the Islamic State group.
But YPG leaders will not allow the involvement of any military force not “under the banner and name of the YPG”.
A YPG leader field commander, speaking on condition of anonymity, told al-Araby al-Jadeed that anyone wanting to fight with them should “join our ranks. If their intentions are political and they want to use this for their own agendas, they cannot join.”
But Wais Sheikhi, a member of the KNC military relations committee in Kobane, pointed out that Free Syrian Army rebels were fighting in the city under their own banner. “Isn’t their participation to achieve political agendas such as those rejected by the YPG leadership?”
Adham Basho, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria was also critical. “We have always been supportive of Kurdish group decision making. We have supported the revolution since it began and the Syrian opposition to bring down the Assad regime. But the West Kurdistan Parliament rejects group decision making and thinks it makes the decisions for all Kurds.”
The KNC had earlier announced it was ready to join the fight with 200 fighters.
The KNC sent a delegation to Kobane two days ago to meet with leaders from the YPG with the goal of coordinating the entrance of its fighters to help in the battle with the Islamic State group.
But YPG leaders will not allow the involvement of any military force not “under the banner and name of the YPG”.
A YPG leader field commander, speaking on condition of anonymity, told al-Araby al-Jadeed that anyone wanting to fight with them should “join our ranks. If their intentions are political and they want to use this for their own agendas, they cannot join.”
But Wais Sheikhi, a member of the KNC military relations committee in Kobane, pointed out that Free Syrian Army rebels were fighting in the city under their own banner. “Isn’t their participation to achieve political agendas such as those rejected by the YPG leadership?”
Adham Basho, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria was also critical. “We have always been supportive of Kurdish group decision making. We have supported the revolution since it began and the Syrian opposition to bring down the Assad regime. But the West Kurdistan Parliament rejects group decision making and thinks it makes the decisions for all Kurds.”
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