Syrian Kurds condemn Islamist armed groups' violence in meeting with Turkey

Turkey-backed Syrian Kurdish National Council on Thursday met with officials from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conveyed a message that it was no longer acceptable for Islamist armed groups to stay in Kurdish areas, after they attacked and killed four members of a Kurdish family because they lit a Newroz fire.

According to Rudaw, the ENKS delegation included Syrian Opposition Coalition Representative Abdulhakim Beshar and ENKS representatives Selal Gedo and Zuheyr Muhammed.

“We conveyed to the Turkish delegation that some armed groups engaged in terrorist activities," Selal Gedo, said in an interview with KRI-based Rudaw,

He added: "We do not trust the courts controlled by the Syrian opposition. We demanded that the criminals be tried by Turkey. Turkey is closely following the issue and has told us that they will try to help. Our friends also met with a senior American delegation in Istanbul yesterday and also spoke with the French. We will try to convey the suffering of the people in Afrin and other Kurdish areas to all countries we can reach."

Gedo said that the armed groups have unlimited power in the areas they govern, and there is no law or administration to stop them. The attackers in Afrin belong to a group named Ahrar al Sharqiyya, an armed group in Syria that adopts a political Islamist discourse. The group was involved in Turkey's 2019 operation to remove the YPG (People’s Protection Units) from Afrin.

“They do whatever they want. If a solution is not found to this issue, there is already a social explosion, and the people are no longer staying at home. People are on the streets, and they are no longer afraid of their weapons," Sedo said.

On Thursday, hundreds of people protested Turkey-backed armed groups, including Ahrar al Sharqiyya, in Afrin. After the protests, it was announced that the killers were caught.