Second phase of Kurdish unity talks among top Syrian Kurdish parties nears conclusion

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The leading Kurdish political forces in Syria, the Kurdish National Unity Parties (PYNK) and the Kurdish National Council (KNC), are nearly finished with the second phase of Kurdish unity talks that are supported by the United States.

The PYNK is an umbrella entity composed of groups allied to the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the political wing of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

On 17 June, the KNC and the Kurdish parties allied with the PYD reached an initial understanding of Kurdish unity in Hasakah. They said their talks would continue based on an agreement they arrived at in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok city in 2014.

Read more: Syrian Kurdish parties reach initial unity agreement

Since then, talks between the two sides have continued, expressing optimism about the negotiations. KNC officials say that the “political reference” issue (the formation of a political body for the Kurdish parties) has been addressed and agreed upon, including a joint mechanism for making major decisions.

Now, preparations for the third round of the talks are taking place.

PYNK officials say that the talks now focus on “administration” and the “social contract” that forms the basis of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria as a de-facto constitution. But it is still unclear whether the “contract” will be amended or remain as is.

Nafi Abdullah, a senior member of the KNC-linked Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDP-S), told Kurdistan 24 that the two sides had completed almost 90-95% of the second stage’s goals.

“The remaining parts are some disagreements, for instance, ‘the social contract or the constitution,’ and the ‘criteria’ [of administration] – the disagreements over these two topics are minor. ‘Administrative issues’ will be on the agenda for the third stage of the talks.”

Salih Gheddo, the leader of the Kurdish Democratic Left Party, which is close to the PYD and a member of the PYNK, told Kurdistan 24 that the talks continue on a “positive note.”

“The dialogue between the two parties is taking place in a good spirit. The last meeting was the most successful. We were able to address the points on the agenda,” he said.

“I can tell you that we have almost addressed the “reference” subject; there is only one part of that matter that we are still working on – we believe that will also be addressed in the coming days.”

The PYD and the KNC have continued negotiations that began in early November last year to discuss the need for unity after Turkey’s cross-border offensive in northern Syria in October. The resumption of Kurdish unity talks was an initiative of the SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi to overcome Kurdish political differences in Syria.

Local support for the Kurdish unity talks is overwhelming. According to a recent survey carried out by the Syria-based Rojava Centre for Strategic Studies in July in the Hassakah province, 95.1% view as positive the SDF initiative to unite the Kurdish parties, 1.5% were negative, 2.1% didn’t know, and 1.3% did not answer the question.

And, 65.7% of the survey participants thought the second phase of the talks would be successful, while 6% thought they would fail. 26.6% didn’t know if they would succeed.

Tensions between the KNC and PYD increased following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, with the latter playing a significant role in the establishment of the self-administration that has ruled northeastern Syria.  The two sides have not successfully cooperated as had been hoped, in part because agreements they reached in Duhok and Erbil between 2012 and 2014 were never effectively implemented.

The United States has publicly supported the SDF’s initiative to unite the Kurdish parties. The Kurdistan Region has similarly expressed its backing of the efforts to bring the Syrian Kurds together.

Although the talks continue, the Kurdish parties have disagreements on the criteria and the sharing of positions within the local administration in Syria. Nevertheless, the US being a serious mediator, the parties continue to participate in the dialogues.

(Additional reporting by Ekrem Saleh)

Editing by Khrush Najari