Kurdish security chief: Turkey must end support for jihadists
The head of the Syrian Kurdish security police forces, Ciwan Ibrahim, tells Al-Monitor that they are willing to cooperate with Turkey if it halts its support for jihadist groups.
QAMISHLI, Syria — The head of the Kurdish security police in northeast Syria, Ciwan Ibrahim, said that his security forces are willing to cooperate with Turkey if it ends its support for radical jihadist groups.
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Ibrahim accused Turkey of continuing to support jihadist groups such as the Islamic State (IS), which is in the throes of a major and vicious assault against Kurdish populations in Syria and Iraq.
The Kurdish security police, known as Asayish in Kurdish, operates in Syrian Kurdish cities to combat crime and terrorism. Amid the turmoil of Syria’s civil war, the Kurds established their own autonomous system and security apparatus in northeastern Syria in January.
The Asayish is seen as being affiliated with the Democratic Union Party (PYD), although Ibrahim denied any link to any political party.
