KOBANI – During a demonstration calling for the release of the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, The former co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Salih Muslim said last Sunday that victory will soon be announced in Raqqa by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).



“Soon you will hear the fall of Raqqa, the capital of Daash [ISIS]. This is the spirit that grew in the city of Kobani that will inform you of the fall of Raqqa,” he told a jubilant crowd in the city of Kobani.



“Those who created [our enemies] and pushed them to the Kurdish people are like Daesh, and they [ISIS] were first broken in Kobani,” he said.



“Our people will be rid of this scourge that they have suffered from for four years. A greeting to you again and from victory to victory until the leader of the people, Abdullah Ocalan is released,” he said.



Moreover, the PYD-leader said that Abdullah Ocalan was not only a leader for the Kurdish people. “We are seeking a Democratic Nation. The leader Ocalan called for it and we must stick to it,” he said.



“The commander Ocalan is not just Kurdish, he is as much Arabic as he is Kurdish, as he is Syriac,” he said. “We take pride in this unity that we made with our hands we promise to move forward until victory is achieved for all of us and the brotherhood of the people,” he added.



October 9, 2017 marks the 19th anniversary of forced departure of Abdullah Ocalan from Syria, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Ocalan was forced to leave Syria in 1998, after an agreement between Turkey and Syria. The agreement entailed the settlement of disputes over water with Turkey. Syria which tolerated the existence of the PKK within its borders, eventually abandoned Ocalan as a concession.



Currently, Ocalan is imprisoned in Imrali island close to Istanbul since he was captured on 15 February 1999 by Turkish forces.



The claims of Salih Muslims regarding the defeat of IS in Raqqa were also corroborated by SDF this week, after they announced that soon Raqqa would be liberated.



We may currently be seeing the last bouts of fighting in Raqqa over the next few days.