PYD continues illegal draft of child soldiers

Long criticized for the unlawful recruitment of children, the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) has mandated conscription for all girls and boys over 16 years of age in the city of Manbij, located on the west bank of the Euphrates River. According to information obtained from local sources by the Anadolu Agency (AA), the PYD trains child soldiers before sending them to fight on active PYD fronts and pays these children $100 salary. The PYD implemented similar imposition in the Afrin district before.

The PYD has a track record of forcing children to fight on their side in the Syrian civil war. On Sept. 1, a video of a little girl reportedly being told to shoot an automatic rifle in a PYD-ruled area in northern Syria went viral. The video has been described by Twitter users as further proof of child abuse by the PYD. In the video, the little girl is seen shooting the rifle, shouting the famous PKK slogan "Biji Serok Apo," which means "Long live leader Apo," in reference to the PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan. A 13-year-old boy named Shiar Delili was also abducted by PYD terrorists in the town of Manbij. After being recruited to fight the young boy was killed in the conflict and PYD sympathizers shared his photos on social media, calling him a "martyr."

Yazidis are also suffering from the oppressive acts of the PKK and PYD as these terrorist organizations drive Yazidi children onto the battlefront by deceiving them or kidnapping them in Iraq and Syria, Sinjar District Governor Mehma Halili from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) recently stated. Also, in August 2015 a report on the PYD was published by KurdWatch, an independent group of experts reporting on Kurdish rights' violations in Syria, revealing information regarding the PYD's forcible recruitment and deployment of child soldiers. The report, called: "Forcible recruitment and the deployment of child soldiers by the Democratic Union Party in Syria," states that along with adults who are also forcibly conscripted by the PYD to serve in the PYD's armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG), there is an increase in the recruitment of children as young as 12 years of age over the past 14 months. Furthermore, it is explained that recruitment is sometimes forced while sometimes it is voluntary; nevertheless, against the expressed consent of their legal guardians. A U.N. report titled, "Paris Principles on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict," stipulates that a child soldier is defined as: "A child associated with an armed force or armed group refers to any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity."