The presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey due to be held on 14 May will have a direct effect on the Kurdish-controlled Rojava in northeast Syria, said prominent Kurdish politician Salih Muslim on Saturday.
“The elections to be held in Turkey on 14 May are very important,” said Muslim, the leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main party of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
“Today there is a possibility of removing this government through democracy. This is an opportunity not only for Kurdish people but for all people in Turkey to get rid of this fascist government,” the politician said.
Muslim recalled that Ankara has been continuously attacking Kurdish-held territories in north Syria on the grounds of protecting its national security.
“Those elections are also very important for Rojava. If this fascist government wins the elections, it will like to complete its invasion plans on Rojava. Their target is to invade all of Syria,” he said.
“The elections have a direct effect on Rojava and the Syrian question,” Muslim said, adding that Turkey had plans to establish a 32-kilometre-deep buffer zone in northern Syria.
“If this government stays, it will realise this plan,” he said. “Therefore, it has a direct effect on us.”
Before the twin earthquakes on 6 February that hit Turkey’s south and Syria’s north, the Turkish government was announcing that it was determined to launch a ground operation into Kurdish-controlled territories in northern Syria to clear the area of Kurdish fighters.
“They can wage a war at any minute. They can start a war at any minute as long as this government and its ministers remain in place. We are continuing our preparations for resistance without believing that the possibility of their attack has weakened,” Muslim said.