7 yıl önce

SDF defector says PKK exploiting oil resources in Syria since 2012

In a tell-all interview with Turkey's Anadolu Agency, the former SDF spokesperson also gave details on how the PKK's expansion strategy is advancing.

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Former SDF spokesman Talal Silo (Centre) in a file image of when he served as spokesperson of the SDF.

Talal Silo, a former spokesperson of the SDF in Syria, recently defected and came to Turkey.

In a tell-all interview with Turkey's Anadolu Agency, Silo said the SDF are a group dominated by PKK/PYD members who have been exploiting oil resources in Syria since 2012.

Silo said the PKK sells the oil abroad and money earned was invested in banks in Lebanon and later transferred to Europe.

Silo said he joined the YPG, but later ended up being asked to join the SDF.

The YPG is the armed wing of the PYD which is considered by Turkey as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organisation.

In its more than three-decade terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK have killed more than 40,000 people, including women and children.

Since the group resumed its armed campaign in July 2015, more than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives.

"Exit to the Mediterranean"

He also spoke about the organisation’s "exit to the Mediterranean" project.

The PKK/PYD is currently occupying more than a fourth of Syrian territory.

Silo said that the expansion strategy of the organisation has grown as it advanced its area of dominance, starting from the Iraqi border in eastern Syria, then west through the Turkish borderline.

He also said the future of the organisation is connected to its ability to open a corridor to the Mediterranean from the land, and connect directly with the external world and receive support.

Turkey has warned the US of the goals of the organisation, however, the US government says the developments are only linked to the fight against Daesh.

Silo, before leaving Syria, had developed close relations with senior YPG figures, the military wing of the PKK/PYD and had witnessed from the inside the activities of the organisation, which uses the name SDF in Syria.

US arming terror groups

Silo told Anadolu Agency details of the US arming terrorist groups in the region and what some US officials thought about the PKK/PYD's presence in northern Syria.

Silo said the SDF was "just a name" that provided cover for the US to support the YPG.

Despite Turkey’s objections, the US has provided the PKK/PYD with arms, calling it an ally in the fight against Daesh, but ignoring its terrorist group status.