Saleh Muslim, leader of Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD), political offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), has said Syrian Kurds were not in collaboration with Assad regime, and did not plan to declare autonomy in north of Syria.
PYD leader Muslim, who was in Istanbul for several meetings, replied the questions of Anadolu Agency (AA).
"Turkey is our friend. We devote very much importance to our relations with Turkey, which had a very big role in the Middle East. Besides, Turkey has 900 kilometres long border with Syria," said Muslim, emphasizing that being in touch with Turkey for Syria's future was essential.
Salih said, "We have never been far from Turkey as people of Rojava, where Kurds live in majority."
Stating that high level officials from Turkish Foreign Ministry received him, Muslim said, "Al Nusra front is fighting against us. This is very important. We discussed this issue with Turkish officials."
Regarding their plans about post-Assad administration in Syria, Muslim said, "We are planning a temporary civilian administration to manage certain public services, which are pending at the moment," said Muslim, adding, "Of couse this administration will be composed of Kurds in Rojava, Arabs and Turkmens."
Muslim emphasized that their efforts were not only directed towards the Kurds in Rojava.
- "It is not a matter of autonomy"
Upon a question of whether or not they were aiming to declare autonomy and write a constitution of their own, Muslim said, "It is not a matter of autonomy. Absolutely Syria will not be the same any more. It will have a new status. Kurds will have a new status. The order and regime of Syria's whole will change. Kurds need to have a status within the new order. But until that time, we need a temporary regulation. We have to manage our works within this period. Already, what we call 'civillian administration' is just for this transitionary period. There is nothing like making up a new constitution, but we need some practical rules until a political solution is founded."
"We are thinking of establishing a 40-50 member transition council, which will be composed of Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians and Arabs."
- "We are against Assad"
Muslim denied the claims about PYD's collaboration with Bashar Assad, and said, "We have a stable policy since the beginning. We are against Assad and we want him to be toppled. But because we are not sending our youngsters to Damascus for fight, instead we establish our own regions, certain circles are disturbed by this."
