As the US and Russia urge Turkey to exercise restraint in northern Syria, the former leader of the Kurdish PYD Democratic Union Party tells euronews Moscow is itself very involved.

"When Russia entered Syria for the first time, it said it was to protect its territorial integrity and came to oppose any attacks against the country. Today we see that Russia has completely abandoned this claim. When Russia allowed Turkey to invade Syria, it was also invading. Russia left Turkey to decide everything", said Salih Müslim.

The PYD is the political affiliate of the Syrian Kurdish YPG, which Turkey considers an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party. The PYD has urged the United Nations to create safe zones for Kurdish-led areas of northern and eastern Syria.

"We, the Kurds in northern Syria, are not enemies of the Turkish people. We have never fired a single bullet towards Turkey from our own territory. We will never act against the Turkish people. There are reports of missiles being fired towards the Turkish towns of Kilis and Reyhanli. This is a provocation. We have never fired rockets at or targeted civilian areas", Muslim added.