Syrian Interim Government against YPG/PKK’s ‘census’

By Ethem Emre Ozcan

ANKARA (AA) - The YPG/PKK terrorist group is conducting a false census which is illegal and has no validity, the head of the Syrian Interim Government said Monday.

"We are against the so-called census of the separatist YPG/PKK," said Abdurrahman Mustafa, speaking to Anadolu Agency.

He said the terrorist organization is carrying out "profiling" under the name of a "census" in the region east of the Euphrates River.

"The YPG/PKK's so-called census serves its separatist aims, its plans to change the demographic structure, and its existence built on tyranny," he said, adding it aims to make demographic changes in the geographies dominated by the Arab population according to the data to be obtained.

Noting that the local community living in the region is worried sick about the false census, he said: "The terrorist organization had previously changed the education system and imposed a curriculum against the culture of the people in the region."

As internally displaced Syrians suffered racism at the hands of the terror group’s members in the region, the group confiscated the properties of Syrians who it forced to leave their native land, he noted.

"This false census once again shows the true racist face of the terrorist organization. The separatist group wants to destroy the real identity of the people of the region," he said.

Underlining that the YPG/PKK does not represent the people of the region, Mustafa said that as they are conducting a so-called census, the terrorist group is also collecting information about the displaced people and the assets they left behind.

"Under the name of the census, the members of the group will confiscate more assets of those who had to leave the region," he said.

- Federation plan, ‘census’ to increase international aid

As of May 7, the YPG/PKK had initiated a kind of "profiling" which they called a "census" in Syria’s Al-Hasakah province. Moreover, it plans to carry out the so-called census in other regions in the coming days.

The terror group’s members in plain clothes go to people’s homes and ask questions about their religious and ethnic origins, place of birth, residential address, marital and educational status, displacement, health status and occupation.

It is noteworthy that the members also collect information about the assets and immovables left behind by locals’ relatives abroad.

Some regional politicians told Anadolu Agency that the YPG/PKK is preparing to identify the owners of immovable properties that are not in the region and to confiscate these properties.

As part of a plan called a "social contract,” which aims for a federation, it plans to take steps such as a “census,” identifying the electors and so-called elections to seek external legitimacy.

After the “census,” the YPG/PKK is expected to demand an increase in the share of foreign aid allocated to the occupied territories.

Population density is a very important criterion in the distribution planning of international aid within Syria.

The YPG, which is the Syrian branch of the PKK, remains in control of large swathes of northeastern Syria with US backing.

The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in Turkiye and the US. But Washington has refrained from similarly designating the YPG and continues to partner with it in the region against the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group despite adamant protests from Ankara.