Page 182 - America's Failure to Perceive the PKK

Many of the fighters in Kobani weren't Syrian Kurds but mem-
bers of the PKK, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.
and the European Union... The commanders calling the shots
now in Kobani are not the local municipal leaders trotted out for
Western media interviews to highlight the role of women fight-
ers during the siege. They are instead what locals call Qandil
Kurds, a reference to the PKK's mountain-range sanctuary in
northern Iraq that extends 30 kilometers into Turkey and con-
tains the separatist movement's military training camps. 72

One YPG militant who wished to remain anonymous admitted
this point with the following words:

Five of the top commanders during the siege were from Kobani
and 15 were Qandil commanders. 73

After making all these observations, Dettmer seems convinced

that Turkey had been right all along in its decision to place its tanks
along the border.
As in the case of Kobane, the PYD wanted the coalition forces to

target neighboring Turkmen and Arabic regions such as Tal Abyad

Some Western journalists not believing the
speculations from abroad and closely
observing the YPG persecution in Kobane
admitted that Turkey was justified for deploy-
ing Turkish tanks to the border during the
occupation.

180 America's Failure to Perceive the PKK