Kurdish politician: US blocking Syrian army advances in Raqqa

A senior Kurdish politician blasted the US for impeding ISIL's defeat in Iraq and Syria through its support for Turkish intervention.

"The fight against the ISIL, specially in northern Syria, is not only a battle against the Takfiri terrorist group, but a battle against the Turkish army that are acting as terrorists," Jamal Mullah Mahmoud, Kurdish politician and member of the presiding board of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said on Saturday.

He reiterated that the SDF is in its final phase of preparatory measures to initiate the Raqqa liberation operation, and said, "The only concern of the SDF is the unclear stance of the US, especially concerning the ongoing military operation there."

Mullah Mahmoud underlined that the Iraqi army is in a high-level of military preparedness and acts in full coordination with Kurdish Peshmerga forces and volunteer forces known as Hashd al-Shaabi, indicating there is no problem with military preparedness in Iraq to successfully end the Mosul battle.

He, meantime, pointed to Turkey's military incursion into Syria, and said, "Turkey has voiced its readiness to help to the Raqqa operations if the SDF forces stay away from the operations and the US is apparently supporting this while we are fully against Turkey's presence in the Raqqa battle."
In relevant remarks in late July, Leader of the Syrian Kurdistan's Democratic Union Party Salih Muslim Mohammed said Ankara is using the ISIL terrorist group as a means to pressure the Kurdish people.

EA