Kurdish-backed council rejects Russian fears over Kurdish 'quasi-states'

The Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) has called on Russia to focus on ending crimes by Turkish-backed groups in Afrin, rather than expressing worries that the Syrian Kurds would create a “quasi-state” on the east of the Euphrates.

On Monday, Russian Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is against US-backed “quasi-state” formations.

“We are absolutely against all measures on the territory of Syria that could lead to an emergence of ‘quasi-state’ formations, which could subsequently damage the territorial integrity of Syria,” Peskov said, speaking at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Rossiya 1 TVon Sunday that the activity “on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River clearly violates the commitment to Syria’s territorial integrity.”

The Russian FM also claimed the United States was pretending that its steps in the east of the Euphrates are temporary, where America has commandos and advisors that are “playing the Kurdish card.”

“This is a very dangerous game, taking into account that the Kurdish issue is vital in a whole number of regional states [in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey],” he said.

Read the full article and more in Kurdistan 24.