[17] The KNC has been accused by PYD supporters of working with Turkey and the Syrian opposition forces against the Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava (NSR).

[18] The KNC leader Ibrahim Biro said in his interview on Turkish pro-government Sabah newspaper that PYD is ruling in a dictatorial manner committing gross human rights violations in the process and that western countries are overlooking these violations in using PKK against ISIS, he also stressed that Western countries should start supporting their own forces instead of PYD and other NSR entities.

[24] KNC members and leaders have had meetings with Turkish authorities, citing need for dialogue with Turkey, if Kurds are to gain autonomy from Damascus.

"[17] The KNC meanwhile have described the PYD as dictators and tyrants and accused them of betraying Kurds in Syria by working with Assad and replacing one dictatorship with their own.

[26] On 13 August 2016, Asayish arrested Ibrahim Biro, leader of the KNC and the Kurdish Union (Yekîtî) Party, in Qamishli and took him to an unknown location.

Some ARA News journalists alluded that the two incidents might be linked to the rivalry between the PKK and KDP, which support the PYD and KNC, respectively.

[18][27] Biro was released the next day, claiming that he had been detained for the KNC's "political activities" and that the PYD would fail, because "it is impossible for the people of Syria to accept another dictatorship."

[31] After the outbreak of the Battle of al-Hasakah between pro-government and pro-PYD forces on the same day of August 2016, the KNC condemned the Syrian government for their attacks on civilians and urged both sides to stop fighting.

The council stated that "the Turkish Army and allied Islamist rebels have been killing civilians, carrying out indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes on populated areas."

"We condemn and denounce the Turkish aggression and demand the government of Ankara to stop the [attacks] immediately, we also ask PYD [Democratic Union Party] authorities to change its approach and authoritarian behavior and move towards a national and responsible approach to serve the unity of the Kurds and the Kurdish project in the face of challenges and serious risks in the present time and in the future for our Kurdish people", the council stated.

These statements have raised confusion among some mostly pro-PYD observers, with Carl Drott, a sociology researcher at the University of Oxford, commenting that "It is hard to know what the KNC actually wants.

[3] This was shown when Syrian opposition leader Michel Kilo outright condemned any attempt of Kurds to establish federalism in Syria, negatively comparing them to Israel.

The KNC reacted to the statement in which it accused Kilo of racism and acting to please President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey.