Syrian Kurds boycott Russian-sponsored Sochi talks following Turkey assault on Afrin

QAMISHLO, Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdistan 24) – A prominent Syrian Kurdish party which was invited by the Russian state to a peace conference in Russia this week announced on Sunday it boycotted the talks due to the Turkish military offensive on the Kurdish enclave of Afrin.

Speaking to Kurdistan 24, Abdel Hamid Darwish, the founder of the Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party (KDPP) in Syria—one of the oldest Kurdish parties—said their party would boycott the Sochi talks because of the Russian stance toward the Turkish attacks on Afrin.

“Turkey has become an essential power in the Sochi talks, and this essential power is killing dozens of Kurdish children every day, so it is impossible for us to sit and attend any talks under its supervision,” he said.

Darwish added that Russia is colluding with Turkey in the attacks on Afrin.

“Such a superpower is making itself very trivial for taking such a negative stance toward attacks on Afrin,” he concluded. “This is a shame.”

Russia is hosting what it has called a Syrian Congress of National Dialogue in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday that it hopes will launch negotiations on drafting a new constitution for Syria after almost seven years of civil war.

The boycott by the KDPP in Syria came after Turkey launched an air and ground offensive against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) city of Afrin.

However, some Kurdish political parties said they might not boycott the conference if it achieves the Kurdish interests.

Syria’s Kurdish National Council (ENKS), an umbrella body of Syrian Kurdish parties based in Erbil, and the opposing PYD, the main ruling party in Rojava, have not been invited to the Russian-brokered talks.

Yet, ENKS officials state they may not boycott the talks if they are invited.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany