Image: sdf-press.com
On August 13, the media wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) released an official statement commenting on rumors spreaded by the Turkish media that 1,300 members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) may participate in the expected operation of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
“Lately, there were a lot of talking regarding the participation of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the military operation that the Syrian regime is said to be lunched in Idleb [Idlib] governorate. There were also a lot of rumors published by some biased media institutions regarding this matter.
We declare that such rumors are incorrect, neither our participation in such operations, nor any negotiations or coordination with the Syrian regime,” the SDF said in a statment on its website.
There are a few interesting things in this statement:
- The Turkish media said that 1,300 mebmers of the YPG and the PKK, not the SDF will participate in the alleged SAA operation. So, by the August 13 statement, the SDF directly showed itself as an entity created as another brand for the YPG and the PKK in Syria – this is something what Ankara has repeatedly claimed publicly.
- The SDF has deounced any reports on the negotiations between the SDF and the Syrian government. The August 13 statement contradicts real facts on the ground. For example, in late July, a high profile delagation of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) – this is a political wing of the SDF – visited Damascus for negotiations with the Syrian government.
On the official level, the Kurdish-dominated SDF seeks to keep an image as a reliable “proxy” of the US in Syria and provides an official media policy based on the MSM text book. This approach, especially when it’s emplyoed without any creativity, causes situation when the SDF’s official statements contradict to actions of the SDF on the ground.
