MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Both Trump and Clinton have promised to defeat Daesh by means of ideological warfare, intelligence sharing, cyberwarfare and cutting the terrorists’ financial support.
"We find the statements by both candidates on ISIS [Daesh] to be positive. However, due to a lack of clarity of their plans, we do not know what they will do. Clinton has spoken a little more openly, she stated that she would work with local groups and arm the Kurds. Trump has not elaborated on his statement that he will be more radical against ISIS. Despite this, we find the statements made by both candidates regarding ISIS as promising," Uzun, who is also the KNK spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said.
In September, Clinton specified the need to capture or kill Daesh leader Abu Bakr Baghdadi to defeat the terrorist group. The following month, she made several statements on the need to pursue Daesh terrorists in Syria after the re-capture of the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Iraq, along with neighboring Syria, has been suffering from the advance of Daesh, which is outlawed in Russia and the United States as well as in many other countries.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced on October 17 the start of a military operation to retake Mosul from Daesh. According to local media, about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are taking part in the operation, backed by airstrikes carried out by the US-led international coalition.
Kurdish Congress Calls on New US President to Treat Turkish, Iraqi, Syrian Kurds Equally
If elected, either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, should have an equal approach to the Kurdish population of Turkey, Syria and Iraq, Uzun told Sputnik.
The current US administration carries out a diverse foreign policy in relation to Kurds. On October 27, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest stated that the US support for Turkey’s fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was unwavering. At the same time, the United States provides support to Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Iraq and considers providing direct support to Syrian Kurdish militia, the People's Protection Units (YPG).
"The Kurds want this [US-Kurdish] relationship to be permanent and political rather than just based on conjuncture. Both [presidential] candidates have made positive statements regarding the Kurds, however, these have generally been made within the context of the fight against ISIS. We want them to have a positive stance towards the Kurdish question in general. The Kurdish question is an interlinked whole," Uzun said.
