KNC calls for the release of all prisoners, and an end to the PYD's policy of kidnapping, forced recruitment, and ethnic cleansing

The Kurdish National Council has condemned the Democratic Union Party (PYD) for the kidnapping, arrest and forced recruitment of Kurdish citizens in the northern and eastern regions of Syria. The statement follows the arrest of a Council member in a number of raids conducted by Kurdish militias two days ago.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Council said that an armed group of four members from the PYD stormed the house of Hassan Ali Ramadan, a member of the Central Committee of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria, transferring him to the PYD police center in the city of Qamishli. It is understood Ramadan’s health condition is unstable.

Another armed group of Kurdish People Protection Units also arrested Asaad Ibrahim Yassin and his son Ibrahim on July 15. Ibrahim was reportedly tortured by PYD police in Hassakeh for wearing the peshmerga uniforms. The Council condemned the policy of "arrogance and domination by force of arms" practiced by the PYD against the sons of Kurdish people, condemning the "terrorist" practices of the Democratic Union Party.

The Kurdish National Council stressed that these practices are responsible for Kurdish people fleeing their region, stating that such actions "are contrary to the principles of democracy and inconsistent with the values and ethics of Kurds, and only serve the dictatorial regime, and harm the unity of Kurdish people".

The statement called on the Democratic Union Party to refrain from its offensive policies and actions towards the Kurdish people and their nationalist cause in Syria. The statement also demanded the immediate release of all prisoners, including Hassan Ali Ramadan, Asaad Ibrahim Yassin and his son Ibrahim, and an end to arrest and forced recruitment campaigns.

Activists accuse the Democratic Union Party, headed by Saleh Muslim, of deporting Arab citizens from their villages and towns, and following a policy of ethnic cleansing in Al-Jazeera and the northern countryside of Raqqa, in preparation for the establishment of a Kurdish entity on the Syrian-Turkish border. The PYD has denied these accusations on several occasions.

Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer