Images of Kurdish separatists in Algeria spark outrage
Alleged images of Kurdish separatists at the Polisario Front-run Tindouf refugee camp in Algeria, have sparked outrage from the north African country’s adversaries.
According to Yabiladi, a Moroccan media outlet, photos circulating on social media show the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) at the Sahrawi Solidarity Summit between the 4th and 7th of January.
While Algeria has denied the claims, the Turkish website Clash Report relayed that local sources said the meeting would not have been possible without the permission of the Algerian authorities.
The Polisario Front are an Algeria-backed militia, representing the ethnic Sahrawi people, who have been fighting with Morocco for independence in Western Sahara since Spanish troops left in 1975.
Turkey, who has been battling the PKK for decades, will not have been pleased by the images, with the Clash Report claiming Algeria is “provoking” Turkey on purpose.
Staunchly pro-Moroccan media outlet Morocco World News unsurprisingly slammed Algeria as being caught “red handed” in “another reckless diplomatic provocation”, claiming it “triggered a fierce backlash from Turkey.”
Algeria was a staunch ally of the Assad regime, working for a long time to enable its return to the Arab League, but now the cards have fallen, perhaps Algeria is trying to keep its finger in the pie by allowing Kurdish fighters in its midst.
The Sahrawi Solidarity Summit in Tindouf was organised by Swedish activists Benjamin Ladraa, of Swedish-Algerian descent, and Sanna Ghotbi, of Kurdish-Swedish origin, both part of the Swedish Solidarity Rising separatist support group.
Also at the meeting was Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was lambasted by Moroccan media as “clueless” and “self righteous” for her comments on Western Sahara.
Thunberg called on global media and international institutions “to participate in one way or another to achieve justice and hold Morocco accountable for the crimes it commits against the defenseless Sahrawi people,” according to AL24.
Her appearance alongside Kurdish activists may surprise some, but the Turkish Clash Report denounced her as already “linked to PKK/YPG propaganda”.
In November 2024, she visited the Kurdish majority areas of south-eastern Turkey, afterwards calling it an “eyeopening experience” and accusing Turkish authorities of “systematic oppression”, according to TheNewArab.
She said: “Turkey must clarify its stance on the Kurds and other minority groups by enshrining their rights in the constitution. The government continues to use terrorism as a pretext to silence its political opponents.”
Yabiladi, Clash Report, Morocco World News, Solidarity Rising, AL24, TheNewArab
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