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On Friday, Salih Muslim, co-president of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, denied “rumors” that the PYD supports the Syrian government, blamed Iran for a “hostile” policy and said that the presence of Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries will help to consolidate the Syrian community and to boost relations between the Kurds and Arab tribes.

“We have no relations with Iran, and the Iranian policy is no different from that of the Syrian regime on the Kurdish issue, which is hostile to the Kurds’ fundamental rights,” he told the Saudi media outlet Riyadh. “They fear that the Kurds will gain their fights in Syria, and the Iranian and Syrian regime have the same attitude.”

The PYD co-president added that the Turkish-Iranian-Qatari alliance is actively imposing various measures against the Syrian Kurds.

The PYD is a political wing of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). YPG and YPJ members are a core and a major part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Earlier this month, Ilham Ehmed, a co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, (a political wing of the SDF) praised the role of Saudi Arabia in promoting stability in Syria and blamed the “Syrian regime” for supporting “sectarian and national projects.”

Saudi Arabia is one of the main supporters of various militant groups operating in Syria, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda).

Experts describe the recent statements made by representatives of the US-backed Kurdish factions as a part of the wider the Saudi-led media and diplomatic campaign against Qatar.

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