World Bulletin / News Desk

Tensions between rival Kurdish groups in northern Syria are increasing, as the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Syria Kurdistan Democrat Party (SKDP) threaten to spill over.

SKPD member Mustafa Juma told an AA reporter that PYD forces had entered the homes of five SKPD members overnight, kidnapped and exiled them to the autonomous Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq.

Juma, who spoke on behalf of the SKPD, which is a coalition of four parties known for its affiliation with northern Iraq president Masoud Barzani, claimed that the PYD was working for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's Baathist regime.

"PYD wants to start a conflict between Kurdish groups in the region. However, we are a political party. We will work in a political way. We will not reply to the PYD with weapons, we will reply to them with diplomacy," Juma said, promising to organize protests.

"We will let the whole world know about this violation on our rights," he added.

Juma also slammed the PYD for establishing autonomous cantons along the Turkish border, saying that they were set up with the support of the Assad regime and will soon rejoin with the rest of Syria when necessary.

He also claimed that unlike the SKDP, which follows the political lineage of Masoud Barzani's father Molla Mustafa Barzani, the PYD follows the directives of the south-east Turkey-based PKK rebel group leader Abdullah Ocalan, who he said works for the interests of the Assad regime and Iran.

"Ocalan's philosophy to us is wrong. We want a system that will ensure the freedom and national will of the Kurds," Juma said.