Syrian Kurdish officials visit Egypt preparing for opposition conference

Officials of the Syrian Kurdish self-administration arrived in Egypt on Thursday and met Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials in preparation for a Syrian opposition conference.

CAIRO (Kurdistan 24) – Officials of the Syrian Kurdish self-administration arrived in Egypt on Thursday and met Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials in preparation for a Syrian opposition conference.

During the visit, both sides discussed the latest developments in Syria and the role of Egypt in the region, the Syrian-based Kurdish Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported.

Aldar Khalil, a top Kurdish politician who led the delegation, told ANHA that Egypt had a clear position toward the attacks launched by the Turkish military on Afrin.

“The Arab League also had a clear position on the violations of the Turkish occupation army, and their position was stronger and clearer than most countries in the world regarding occupying territories of a neighboring country,” he said.

“Egypt has confirmed that it will support any project aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis, and if we agree with the moderate opposition, Egypt will provide support for holding the Cairo Conference 3,” Khalil explained.

Since the start of Syria’s multi-sided conflict, the opposition groups have been divided into several platforms.

Saudi Arabia backs a grouping of opposition figures called the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) led by Riyad Hijab, a former Syrian prime minister under Assad. The HNC has represented the Syrian opposition at Geneva talks.

Many other political opposition groups and figures backed by other countries including Russia and Egypt also exist.

Additionally, the Kurdish platform inside Syria is represented by the self-administration in the country’s north known as Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan).

Syrian opposition groups held several conferences in Switzerland (Geneva talks), Kazakhstan (Astana talks), Russia (Sochi talks), and Egypt (Cairo conference).

The Kurdish platform attended the previous Cairo talks in the past two years but was not invited to any of the Geneva, Astana, or Sochi talks.   

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany