Syrian tribal council holds second annual congress

AZAZ, Syria (AA) - The Syrian Council of Tribes and Clans on Monday reaffirmed its position against the YPG/PKK terrorist group.

The Prime Minister of the Syrian Interim Government, Abdurrahman Mustafa, the director of the Syrian Christian Foundation, Hanna Milki, the representative of the Kurdish National Tribe of Ras al Ain, Ibrahim Malla, and a Turkmen representative, Muhammed Salih, attended the council’s second annual congress, which was held in the municipality of Sijo near the city of Azaz.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, the council’s Secretary General, Salem Abdulaziz Muslat, said the council is part of greater Syria and aims to serve all Syrian people without discrimination.

"The main purpose here is to unite on the axis of the homeland and the nation, which is our greatest common denominator," Muslat said, adding the goal is to free the capital Damascus from the Bashar al-Assad regime and the Qandil Mountains from the YPG/PKK terrorists.

Mustafa said the tribes began to organize against the YPG/PKK terrorist group in 2018 and emphasized the need to liberate the territories of the clans and tribes east of the Euphrates river occupied by the terror group.

Malla stressed that Kurds have been an integral part of the society since the day the Syrian state was established.

Stating that they are strongly linked to the Arab tribes and Turkmen families in Syria through ties of friendship and kinship, he said the Qandil collaborationists do not represent the Kurds and that Syria is one state with Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen peoples.

"We will continue our fight against groups that destabilize Syria, projects against territorial integrity and groups with separatist agendas," Malla added.

In December 2018, more than 150 Arab, Turkmen, Kurdish and Syriac tribal leaders in Syria united under one umbrella organization against the separatist YPG/PKK terrorist group.