Turkey’s strategy of employing drone strikes to target military leaders of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) effectively constitutes a military operation, said Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) Chairwoman Îlham Ehmed in an interview with Asharq al-Awsat on Friday.
Classifying such acts as parallel to military aggression, Ehmed voiced concerns about Turkey’s increasing reliance on drone strikes.
She also revealed the unresponsiveness of the Syrian government to the initiatives proposed by Kurds, whilst the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, commonly named the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) or the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), outright denied even meeting with them.
Expressing no direct communication with the Syrian government, Ehmet accused them of a belief in a return to the status quo and a strategy of buying time.
These remarks were made in the context of discussions with the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change and the joint announcement regarding the “Consensus Document” aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis.
Despite the discordant notes, Ehmed highlighted the SDC’s importance in finding national unity among all Syrians regardless of their ethnic background, stressing the need for ongoing dialogue with all political formations present in Syria.
Ehmed acknowledged the necessity of talks with all sides, including those in the Turkish controlled areas in the north and the Idlib province.
When asked about the SDC’s relationship with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey recognises as a terrorist organisation, Ehmed was clear in asserting the SDC’s independence in determining its own policies based on the interests of the people in the regions they inhabit.
