Assad admits supplying ammunition to PKK-affiliated PYD in Syria

Though the close-relations between the PKK-affiliated PYD and Bashar al-Assad regime has been reported repeatedly, the Syrian dictator Assad has given an interview to UK-based The Sunday Times newspaper on Sunday where he admitted that not only does the regime supply armaments to the PYD but also many other groups in Syria.

During the interview, Assad not only claimed the US-led coalition airstrikes could not defeat the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Iraq and al-sham (ISIS) but he further blamed the U.K. and France for helping the rise of ISIS and al-Nusra in the region. Similarly to Assad's statements, the PYD Co-Chair Salih Muslim previously said they will allow the return of Syrian regime forces to Rojava and that the PYD's armed-wing People's Protection Units (YPG) will join the regime forces. Thus in this regard, Can Acun, a prominent expert on Middle Eastern politics from the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), said that the relation between the PYD and Assad regime is not a new development.

Commenting on the terrorist organization PKK's role in Syria and its coordination with the PYD, Acun told Daily Sabah that the PKK is aiming to create Kobane as a buffer zone for itself. He also added that the PKK will move throughout the region with the aid of this military support in which Assad has made it obvious with the airstrikes and ground operations in the benefit of PYD. Continuing on with the interview given to the UK newspaper, Assad claims to be fighting terrorisms and added that he has documents of providing weaponry to Kurds in Syria. With the PYD becoming more intimate with the US, Acun said that the PKK and PYD did not need Assad forces' aid as much. In this perspective, the prominent expert underlined that the Assad needs the Kurdish forces to maintain is existence. Earlier in July when Muslim made statements supporting the Assad regime, Middle East reporter Çetiner Çetin told Daily Sabah that the PYD aims to achieve its goals In the region through a 'Biji Assad' strategy.