"The central governments of Syria and Turkey are afraid that the oil deal with American companies or such agreements will lead to the West's political acknowledgment of the Kurdish self-ruling administration in northern Syria, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) public relation’s head in Euphrates region in Syria Kurdistan told KurdPress in an interview.

"Wherever the administration or the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) makes achievements or succeeds in diplomatically, politically, militarily or economically; it is attacked by other groups, including the central governments of Syria and Turkey,” Bakr Haj Isa, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) communications head in the Euphrates region, said in response to a KurdPress Kurdish question about the oil agreement between the Syrian Kurds and the American oil company.

He added: "This oil agreement is a normal issue because the oil wells are located in the areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces and the people who live in this area are all Syrians and the region is a part of Syria."

He added: "Let's not forget that the SDF cleared these areas from the IS, and IS was either destroying the area or selling it to Turkey. This agreement will serve the people of the northern and eastern regions of Syria."

"About five and a half to six million people live in the north and east of Syria, and we are responsible for providing for the lives of these people. It is necessary to make deal with some companies in order to provide for the lives of the people," said Haj Isa, referring to the population ruled by the Syrian Kurdish self-ruling region.

Referring to the administration’s decision to conclude an oil contract with a US company without the knowledge and permission of the central government, the official said: "This is not wrong and there is no ban. All governments enter into such agreements for providing the needs of their people. The central government itself has ties to some American companies such as Shell.

Haj Isa stated: "I emphasize again that such contracts are in the service of the people, and its benefits will be for the people of these areas and all Syrian people. The self-ruling government is currently under siege and has no choice but to extract and sell oil in order to meet the needs of the people in the region.”

He pointed out that “to refine oil and gasoline and to build refineries, we need to reach an agreement with specialized companies that can do this for us, and the move is to serve the people.”

The PYD official stressed that Damascus and Ankara are opposed to the deal as they "are afraid that the oil agreement or such agreements will lead to the West's political acknowledgment of the administration."

"Because of this fear, they describe the actions of the administration and the SDF as looting and theft, while they have been looting the culture, identity, language and resources of our people for years," Haj Isa further explained.

He added: "Extracting a few barrels of oil to meet the needs of the people is not theft and looting, but their behavior in the past years and decades against the right of our people and the people of the region has been looting."

"Syria is at war and the central government has no legitimacy. We have a duty to our people and we have to provide it," said the the Euphrates region official about the administration’s right to conclude oil contracts with foreign companies, adding that “we should pay for their living needs. The action of the self-government region and the PYD is a legitimate action, because they have sacrificed 11,000 lives to cleanse the region from assassination, so that the people of these regions can be freed from oppression and extremism.

"This agreement serves all the people and ethnicities of northern and eastern Syria and does not belong only to a specific nation. For years, the Syrian parliament has no knowledge about the amount of extraction or the amount of the oil sales," said Haj Isa.

He added: “One day, a member of the Syrian parliament asked Hafez al-Assad (former Syrian president and President Bashar al-Assad’s father) where the proceeds of the oil sale go. He replied, the oil is in trusted hands! For almost fifty years now, the Syrian people have not known how the oil is extracted and sold.”

The PYD communications officer acknowledged that many oil wells are located in northern and eastern Syria, but that their benefits flowed to Damascus and to the inefficient central government, while the stench and diseases would remain for the people of the region.

Haj Isa concluded that: “The self-ruling government changed the rule and wants the oil profit for the people of the region and Syria to serve the lives of the people and meet their needs. Oil belongs to all the people of Syria and should not be at the service of individuals and groups. And its resources must be fairly distributed.”

Reporter’s code: 50101