PYD forces people to protest capture of PKK leader
by Daily Sabah with AA
ISTANBULFeb 18, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah with AA
Feb 18, 2016 12:00 am
PKK's Syria-affiliate Democratic Union Party (PYD) have shut down businesses and schools in northern Syria, forcing them to join protests on the 17th anniversary of the capture of the imprisoned leader of the PKK terrorist organization, Abdullah Öcalan.
According to local sources speaking with the Anadolu Agency (AA) from the Hasakah region of northeastern Syria, the terrorist group compelled to participate in protests, forbade businesses to operate and suspended schools, while flying black pennants during the day. The PKK-affiliate terrorist group announced that those who disobeyed would be punished with a fine of 25,000 Syrian pounds ($55).
In an official text sent by the Qamishli Chamber of Commerce to Asayish, the PYD's internal security requested forces to "notify all employers to shut down their businesses," ordering the protests against the capture of Öcalan.
While Ankara lists the PYD and YPG as terrorist organizations alongside the PKK, the U.S., despite acknowledging the PKK as a terrorist organization, has said that they do not consider the other two groups to be terrorists, souring relations between the U.S. and Turkey.
The PYD opened an office in Moscow last week and a portrait of the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan drew attention, supporting Turkish allegations of links between the PKK and the group.
Öcalan was detained in Kenya on Feb. 15, 1999, while traveling from the Greek Embassy to the Nairobi International Airport.
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