ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested the opening of a representation office for the Syrian Kurdish (Rojava) administration in Geneva on Tuesday, calling on the country representative in Ankara for an explanation.
In an act of protest, the ministry summoned the Charge d'Affaires of the Swiss Embassy in Ankara upon the opening of the “so-called representative office under the name of Representation of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria affiliated with the PKK/YPG terrorist organization,” it said in a statement.
Swiss authorities shouldn’t allow the "bloody-handed terrorist organization and its affiliated groups to gain legitimacy and propaganda under names such as associations or non-governmental organizations," the statement added.
The Rojava administration opened an office in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday, home to many headquarters of United Nations bodies, where it plans to push for support to end human rights abuses in areas of Syria controlled by Turkey.
Syria’s Kurds carved out an autonomous region in the northeast during the country’s civil conflict. In the area known as Rojava, they established their own system of governance, and their armed force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is a key ally of the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), defeating the terror group’s so-called caliphate. After a decade of Syria’s conflict, they want to hold onto their achievements and foster international recognition.
Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is the SDF’s backbone, to be the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK is an armed Kurdish group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization and a threat to its national security.
Turkey has carried out two military operations against Kurdish forces in Syria, invading the Afrin area in the northwest in 2018, and areas around the two cities of Sari Kani (Ras al-Ayn) and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) in 2019. Syrian militias backed by Turkey are accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the areas they control. Last week, a father and three children were killed in Turkish bombing of their home in Ain Issa.
