Kurdish National Council refuses compulsory military service imposed by PYD

By Mohamed Al Hussein- Dani Murad)

(Zaman Alwasl- Al Hasakah)- The Kurdish National Council (KNC) in Syria , in statement issued Saturday, refused to impose a compulsory service on their men by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in al-Hasakah province.

According to the draft law, every family was required to have one of its male members between the ages of 18 and 30 do the service, and after six months, the men can decide if they want to go to the front lines.

Moreover, Kurdish officials said that the move aims to prevent ISIS intensified offensiveness against Syria's northern Kurdish region of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab , and after the state captured several predominantly Kurdish villages and key territories on the Iraqi-Syrian borders using weaponry seized from Iraq.

However, activists said that the decision came mainly to protect the Kurdish military gains across northeastern Syria, since the ethnic minority has been solidifying a geographic and political presence in the war-torn country, declaring their own civil administration in areas under their control, and dividing it into the regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazeera.

The Kurdish National Council (KNC) has called in his statement the (PYD) to comply with the Convention of Hawler (Erbil) that took place between the two parties in July 2012 under the auspices of Massoud Barzani, Head of Kurdistan region in Iraq, because of the latest estrangement between the two sides, and not being able to abide by Hawler convention, nor the understandings of 23 /12/2013, in addition to the fact that the parliament of Western Kurdistan (affiliated with PYD) has unilaterally declared a self-administration government, and that deepened the instability and concerns among the Kurdish people, according to the statement.

The statement said that it is important to activate ASAP the specialized leadership which was formed on 23/12/2012 between the two councils, and implement its goals in finding mechanisms and foundations to unify the joint units in a short period, organizing, re-structuring and unifying armed forces and groups, whatever their names where before, and allowing young people to join these units.

However, The Kurdish National Council - north of the country, refused the compulsory military law issued by the self-administration of (PYD) north of Al-Hasakah, after a series of discussions by the General Secretariat in the National Council Conference, which was held in Qamishli days ago.

And in a different context, local sources have confirmed to Zaman Alwasl that armed groups belonging to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) toured the houses in Ras al-Ain city, and asked the owners to pay Zakat al-Fitr to the families of killed people in battles against various factions of Syrian opposition.

In addition to that, the party’s militants arrested Sunday afternoon, the owner of a car laundry in the village (Um al- Dibes) southern of Ras al-Ain, on the grounds that he previously washed a car that belongs to ISIS. (With agencies)