Baku-APA. The terrorist PKK organization and its Syrian affiliate, the PYD, are the "same thing", Massoud Barzani, president of northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), said in a recent interview with Washington-based website Al-Monitor, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency.
"Any support to the PYD means support for the PKK. They are exactly one and the same thing," Barzani said.
The Kurdish leader’s remarks came in response to a question about deepening military -- and perhaps political -- ties between the YPG, the PYD’s armed wing, and the U.S., the latter of which has described the PYD as a "reliable partner" against the Daesh terrorist group.
Asked whether the U.S. administration, too, viewed the PKK and PYD as "one and the same", Barzani said: "They know very well, but they don't want to say they know very well… The top priority for us and the Americans is the fight against [Daesh], so they might turn a blind eye."
Barzani also commented on a recently declared Kurdish "federation" in northern Syria, saying the concept suited the situation in the region.
Last Thursday, the PYD declared a "federal system" in northern Syria’s PYD-held Hasake, Afrin and Kobani regions.
"But there must be consensus on this among the Syrians themselves. When we declared federalism in the Kurdistan region [in October 1992], we didn't do it unilaterally," Barzani said.
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