SDF commander lays out conditions for reconciliation with Damascus
In an exclusive interview, Mazlum Kobane warns of a “second great war” if Turkey intervenes militarily; State Department officials explain consequences of "undisciplined armed groups" in Iraq.
Kobane: “No enmity with regime”
Mazlum Kobane, commander in chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US military’s Syrian ally in the battle against the Islamic State (IS), laid out his demands for reconciliation with the Syrian government in an exclusive interview with Amberin Zaman at al-Omar oil field in Syria.
Kobane said, “We are ultimately part of Syria. We do not wish to separate from Syria. If there is to be a lasting solution for this region, it needs to be with Damascus. Negotiations with the regime are inevitable, and these need to happen.”
We have two principal demands,” Kobane said. “One is that our autonomous administrations here be preserved and accorded legal status. The second is that the SDF be preserved. The security of the territory east of the Euphrates River should be left to the SDF. These are our red lines. We are willing to engage in all kinds of negotiations with the regime on this basis.”
