When pressure is exerted on the PKK's Syrian wing YPG to "comply with the agreement you signed with Damascus,” members of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and certain other politicians aligned with the terrorist group resort to political propaganda, making statements such as "you are opposed to Kurdish rights” or "you are calling for attacks on Kurds.”

Such statements were loudly repeated during the process of clearing the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods of Aleppo of YPG presence. DEM Party members reiterated the same rhetoric they had used during the trench and barricade actions of 2015-2016, when the PKK carried out terrorism in urban centers – this time employing it in defense of the YPG during the Aleppo operation. Once again, they accused Türkiye, the government and the state of discrimination.

In their statements, the co-chairs of the DEM Party claim that the YPG is "resisting in Aleppo for Syria’s pluralistic and democratic future.” These statements are very familiar. For years, they defended PKK terrorism through similar narratives.

DEM Party members and some politicians aligned with them refuse to speak about or debate the truth. One might argue that DEM Party members repeat this political propaganda because they are under pressure. But what should be said about those who are not DEM Party members yet still adopt and reproduce this discourse?

False, dangerous equation

Presenting criticism of the YPG as if it were directed against Kurds is fundamentally wrong. In both Türkiye and Syria, the greatest harm inflicted upon Kurds has been caused by terrorist organizations composed of the PKK/YPG and their derivatives.

Those who support the YPG’s current position while blaming Türkiye and the new Damascus administration must be asked the following: If you truly speak of an inclusive and democratic future for Syria based on its territorial integrity – and yes, this is a legitimate expectation for everyone – then how can such an inclusive, democratic and stable country be built when there exists a structure that pursues a separatist agenda and operates like a state within a state in certain neighborhoods of Aleppo, one of Syria’s most important cities, using mortars, anti-tank weapons and heavy machine guns?

Against whom are the YPG using these heavy weapons and suicide drones? Why did no one utter a single sentence condemning the YPG’s use of civilians living there as human shields?

What YPG agreed to do

On April 1, the new Damascus administration requested that YPG elements withdraw from these Aleppo neighborhoods along with their heavy weapons and move to northern Syria. An agreement was reached that internal security in Aleppo would be jointly ensured by the Syrian Ministry of Interior forces and YPG-affiliated Asayish units.

Why do you ignore the YPG’s failure to comply with the agreement reached on April 1 regarding Aleppo, just as with the March 10 agreement? For an entire year, whenever the YPG and Damascus have come together to negotiate any issue, the YPG has carried out attacks against Syrian security units. Does this mean nothing to you?

During the civil war, the YPG cooperated with the Baath regime. It neutralized every organized structure that did not align with it through violence. It displaced ethnic and religious communities – including Kurds – who did not conform to its line. It has not abandoned these policies even under the new Syrian administration.

Despite this, the new Syrian administration and Türkiye extended a new opportunity to the YPG. For the past year, they have issued warnings and advice, urging it to cease acting as a proxy for other countries.

They warned against continuing to continue serving as a pillar of Israel’s strategy of divide, fragment, and weaken. They cautioned that the channel established with Israel would not protect it but would instead consume it.

What is wrong with issuing such warnings? How is telling the YPG, "comply with the agreement you signed with the new Syrian administration, or bear the consequences,” an expression of hostility toward Kurds?

A structure that violates agreements, continues armed attacks, rejects the new administration and persists in using coercion and violence in areas under its control has no claim to a pluralistic or democratic future. Such claims amount to nothing more than political propaganda.

Following the Aleppo operation, factions within the YPG that favor the continuation of terrorism and act in coordination with Israel will continue their attacks and efforts to block reconciliation. The new Syrian administration, rather than launching a full-scale operation, will instead intensify pressure on the YPG and continue targeted operations against specific objectives.