Syrian Kurdish leader: 'We don't need permission for autonom

[Aslan]

Leader of the Syrian Kurdish group PYD, Salih Muslim, has defied criticisms directed at him for declaring "temporary autonomy" in Kurdish areas in northeast Syria.

"We have come to compromise with all segments and organizations in our region and made a road map for our people, nobody have the right to interfere and we don't need permission [for declaring autonomy]," Salih Muslim, leader of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), told Anadolu Agency in Brussels.

The PYD has declared self-rule in areas under its control in northeast Syria, known as "Rojava", after winning a battle against Syrian rebel fighters.

Both Turkey and the regional Kurdish government in Iraq's north have criticized the move and Syrian rebel forces have accused PYD of colluding with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"They [Turkey and Iraqi Kurds) obviously say that they are against Rojava, and do not accept the autonomy and rule there. These don't sound good. We are not against anybody and both Turkish officials and (the Iraqi Kurdish leader) Barzani know this. We are only dealing with the need of our people, but unfortunately we are portrayed as if we were against Turks and (Iraqi) Kurds", Muslim said.

Turkey's relations with Massoud Barzani, leader of the regional Kurdish government in north Iraq, have seen significant development over the past couple of years with sizable Turkish investments in the flourishing economy of the Iraq's Kurdish parts.

Barzani paid a visit last weekend in a show of support for the Turkish government's drive to end a decades old conflict with the terrorist PKK organization in Turkey's southeast that claimed more than 40 thousand lives.

Muslim rejected calls for his group to join the Syrian opposition fighting to topple Assad, saying the PYD was also against the Damascus regime but it will not side with any party since "PYD had its own roadmap".

Barzani has accused the PYD of disregard for "a common Kurdish cause" and betraying a deal - known as the Irbil
agreement - that the Iraqi Kurdish leader supported to unite Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria.

"The PYD has not complied with the Irbil Agreement, and chased away all parties. It has declared itself an armed force through a fait accomplis, by way of coercion and clandestine deals with the regime," Barzani had said.

Muslim's group has been battling Al-Qaeda-linked opposition groups in Syria near the border with Turkey, causing a spillover of violence into the neighboring country that has resulted in scores of deaths in southern Turkish cities.

Despite denying allegiance with Damascus, a report released by the Turkish Gendarme claims that Bashar al-Assad has been directly supplying the PYD with ammunition and strategic support, including the delivery of 220 ground-to-air missiles.

[Londoner]

So far they have done a good job by liberating WK. The wise thing is not to alienate or aggravate them. We have to understand their background position. They have been conditioned under the totalitarian hard rules of Turkey and Syria. They can not trust every one including Kurds. So the solution is to be easy with them, at least not to undermine them.

[Anthea]

So far they have done a good job by liberating WK. The wise thing is not to alienate or aggravate them. We have to understand their background position. They have been conditioned under the totalitarian hard rules of Turkey and Syria. They can not trust every one including Kurds. So the solution is to be easy with them, at least not to undermine them.

Is it not true that Salih Muslim is a bandwagon jumper who only returned to Syria after others had already made steps towards freedom and the conflict had already begun?

[Shirko]

So far they have done a good job by liberating WK. The wise thing is not to alienate or aggravate them. We have to understand their background position. They have been conditioned under the totalitarian hard rules of Turkey and Syria. They can not trust every one including Kurds. So the solution is to be easy with them, at least not to undermine them.

Is it not true that Salih Muslim is a bandwagon jumper who only returned to Syria after others had already made steps towards freedom and the conflict had already begun?

Were did you here this?? I have noticed your sublime attacks at Muslim for a while. This is very suspicious, and I can't see why an Englush lady hate PYD and their leader so much?? I suspect that only a spy would do this.

[Anthea]

So far they have done a good job by liberating WK. The wise thing is not to alienate or aggravate them. We have to understand their background position. They have been conditioned under the totalitarian hard rules of Turkey and Syria. They can not trust every one including Kurds. So the solution is to be easy with them, at least not to undermine them.

Is it not true that Salih Muslim is a bandwagon jumper who only returned to Syria after others had already made steps towards freedom and the conflict had already begun?

Were did you here this?? I have noticed your sublime attacks at Muslim for a while. This is very suspicious, and I can't see why an Englush lady hate PYD and their leader so much?? I suspect that only a spy would do this.

I suggest you try to locate the date Muslim returned to Syria - if I am wrong about him returning after the conflict had begun then I will apologies - if however I am right and Muslim only returned after the commencement of said conflict you may send me an ENORMOUS box of Cadbury chocolate

I do not like people such as Muslim who appears to have become a megalomaniac full of his own self-importance - I strongly believe that he is causing divisions within the Kurdish population within Syria - Muslim is doing his best for himself which is not necessarily what is best for the vast majority of Kurds living in Syria - approximately half of whom are living outside the Kurdish region - within places such as Damascus itself

YES I believe that Kurds should have a completely independent Kurdistan - but I fear that Kurds living outside the Kurdish region in Syria will face reprisals - they are far too isolated - I also fear the rifts that are forming within the Kurdish population - the many and often unconnected Kurdish factions that have sprung up over the past couple of years

Most of all I fear the manipulation of the innocent Kurdish population

[Anthea]

In seeking the date Salih Muslim returned to Syria I discovered the following:

At the beginning of the revolution in Syria, he was in exile in Iraqi Kurdistan. He has now returned to Syria. In an illuminating interview with the Internet portal "Kurdwatch", Salih Muslim avowed that he did not see the Assad regime as an enemy, but rather the Turkish government.

Perhaps someone could locate Salih Muslim's interview with Kurdwatch

I see those chocolates heading my way

Actually, the entire article was extremely interesting:

Alliance between the PKK and the Assad Regime
A Political Sect on the Wrong Track
Just as the Assad regime is foundering, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, is proving to be its loyal henchman. In this essay, Stefan Buchen writes that PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan made a deal with the Syrian regime back in the days of Hafez al-Assad

While the Syrian regime braces itself against its downfall in Damascus and Aleppo, a remarkable chapter of the war is unfolding in the Kurdish areas of Syria, far away from eyes of the world. There, the local branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, is acting as henchman of the Assad regime and playing the part of both police and public administration.

No official declaration on this astounding development has been forthcoming from either the Assad regime or the PKK leader, Abdullah Öcalan, who is currently imprisoned in Turkey, nor from the military leaders of the Kurdish political sect, which operates in secret mainly in the Qandil Mountains in north-eastern Iraq.

Nevertheless, the signs of a tacit alliance between the Syrian regime and the PKK are proliferating to an extent that appears to dispel any doubts. This was the case even before the statement made last week by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Assad had "entrusted" the Kurdish areas of Syria to the PKK.

http://en.qantara.de/content/alliance-b ... rong-track

[Shirko]

Salih Muslim Muhammad is the leader of the Democratic Union Party, an alleged Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK)[citation needed], and the most powerful member of the Kurdish opposition in the Syrian civil war.[1] He is also the deputy co-ordinator of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change.

Muslim first became involved with the Kurdish movement during the 1970s when he was studying engineering at Istanbul Technical University after becoming influenced by Mustafa Barzani's ongoing fight against the Iraqi government, the failure of which spurred him into becoming more active. Following University he worked as an engineer in Saudi Arabia before returning to Syria in the 90s.

He joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria, the Syrian branch of the Kurdish Democratic Party, in 1998. He later left in 2003 after becoming disillusioned by the party's failure to accomplish its objectives and joined the newly formed Democratic Union Party, or PYD, becoming a member of its executive council, and was elected as party head in 2010. He fled to a PUK camp in Iraq in 2010 after he and his wife were imprisoned in Syria, however returned to Qamishli in March 2011 following the beginning of the Syrian civil war.[2]

During an interview with BBC News reporter Orla Guerin in August 2012, Muslim denied "operational links" to the PKK. He also added that he had been in and out of prison annually since 2003 by Bashar Assad's government.[3]

On 9 October 2013, Salih Muslim's son Shervan, a fighter in the People's Protection Units, was killed west of Tell Abyad during clashes with rebels linked to al-Qaida. He was buried in the family's hometown of Kobanê in a public funeral which thousands of people attended.[4]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salih_Muslim_Muhammad

Sounds like he is a truly nationalistic and honorable Kurd to me... So what if he lived outside some of the time, most if us did and still do...

[Anthea]

Power corrupts - absolute power corrupts absolutely

[Shirko]

And in my eyes, today he is one of the top Kurdsish leaders alive and active.

[Anthea]

There are three main types of leadership;

Authoritarian Leadership (Autocratic):

Provide clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done. There is also a clear division between the leader and the followers. Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently with little or no input from others. This style is usually viewed as controlling - bossy - and dictatorial - Hitler and Salih Muslim both fit into this style of leadership

Participative Leadership (Democratic):

The most effective leadership style - democratic leaders may offer guidance to others - but they also allow input from others and encourage participation in decision making.

Delegative (Laissez-Faire) Leadership:

Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance to others and leave decision-making up to other people. Often leads to poorly defined roles and a lack of motivation and very little positive decision making.