STOCKHOLM

Terrorist PKK’s Syrian branch PYD murders, oppresses, blackmails and exploits civilians and child soldiers, and commits ethnic cleansing, according to the head of an advocacy group.

"The PKK is putting pressure on Assyrians, Arabs and Kurds who do not support them," said Kara Hermez, head of Assyrian Federation of Sweden, in her article titled "YPG is not a blessing from God" in Swedish daily Aftonbladet.

Hermez’s remarks came after the country's Left Party leader Jonas Sjostedt said the terrorist YPG is "the hope of the region and has established a structure that unites all ethnicities".

She responded to Sjostedt’s argument that the Kurds also opposed custom killings and that he has done important work on women's rights issues, saying: "Militant Kurdish groups have learned to exploit the issue of women's rights because there is a struggle for women's rights in the West.

"They are engaged in such a struggle to appear sympathetic to the West," she added.

YPG did not defeat terrorist Daesh in Syria, Hermez underscored, adding: "The Syrian army mostly fought against Daesh in Syria, but the war against Daesh has been the cover of YPG's expansionist policy in the region".

Turkey has said the terrorist group PKK and its extension the YPG/PYD constitute the biggest threat to Syria’s future, jeopardizing the country’s territorial integrity and unitary structure. Turkey has also stressed that supporting terrorists under the pretext of fighting Daesh is unacceptable.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

*Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur