SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazlum Abdi: “The Turkish attack is related to the elections”

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) General Commander Mazlum Abdi was targeted in the attack with a drone strike near Sulaymaniyah Airport in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), US officials stated that three US military personnel were in the convoy during the drone attack and that the attack was being investigated. It is also mentioned in the news report that some Western officials suspect that the Turkish state was behind the strike. Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Commander-in-Chief Mazlum Abdi announced that his convoy was targeted by the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Turkish state. General Mazlum Abdi explained the details of the attack through a video released by SDF Press on April 9.

Abdi remarked in the video that the attack did not result in any damage or loss. Emphasizing that the primary aim of the attack was to prevent the joint war with their local partners, Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan, the State of Iraq, and their international partners, Abdi underlined that the Turkish state is trying to hinder the ongoing war against ISIS by all means. He also expressed that Türkiye is attempting to eliminate the joint relations between Northern and Eastern Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan. In an interview with Al-Monitor, he informed that the head of the Syrian Democratic Council, Ilham Ahmed, was also in the convoy during the attack.

The Commander-in-Chief also believes that the Turkish state, which is trying to win the elections by influencing the Turkish public opinion according to Abdi, has carried out such an attack due to the upcoming elections. The attack was condemned by many Kurdish and Iraqi forces and political parties, who showed their support for the joint war against ISIS. For Abdi, this support indicates that the Turkish state has not achieved its goal with the strike. In his video statement, he also explains that it was not the first time they have been targeted by the Turkish state.

While the statements regarding the attack continued, an article by journalist Fehim Tastekin was published in the newspaper Duvar. In Tastekin’s remarkable column on the attack, he states that the attack was to intimidate. Tastekin includes the following words in his column: “According to the statements, the SDF General Commander Mazlum Abdi Kobani was targeted, but an empty area was hit. Based on the TB2’s (Turkish UAV) record, no one thinks that the target was missed; everybody knows that this could not happen while the Americans were accompanying the convoy. The message “We are following, We know what you are doing and where you are going.” was given. It was a warning or intimidation.”