WASHINGTON (Anadolu) – In a hypocritical move, the U.S. on Thursday issued a general license to exempt northern Syrian territories where the PKK’s regional branch continues to freely roam, from American sanctions.
The Treasury Department’s action lifts prohibitions on business activities in 12 different economic sectors in northern Syria, including agriculture, telecommunications, power grid infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, trade, finance and clean energy.
Purchases of Syrian oil from the region are also permitted as long as they do not benefit the Syrian government.
The areas that are covered by the license run from Aleppo governorate in the west to Hasakah governorate in the east. Geographical exemptions to the affected area are included.
Any business with the legitimate Syrian government is unaffected by Washington and is still prohibited under U.S. law. Importing Syrian oil to the U.S. also remains prohibited, according to the license, which was signed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control Director, Andrea Gacki.
The YPG, which is the Syrian branch of the PKK, remains in control of large swathes of northeastern Syria with U.S. backing.
The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in Turkey and the U.S., but Washington has refrained from similarly designating the YPG and continues to partner with it in the region against the Daesh terror group despite adamant protests from Ankara.
The U.S. has imposed sweeping sanctions on the Syrian government.
Syria has lambasted U.S.-led sanctions against his country, saying the bans amount to economic terrorism and have catastrophic impacts on Syria’s human rights situation.
Damascus says the coercive economic measures by the U.S. target Syrian people’s livelihood and their right to life and welfare, adding the terrorist war against Syria, foreign occupation of its territory and the external support for terrorism have caused catastrophic impacts on the human rights situation in Syria.