Syrian Kurdish delegation meets with Russian Deputy FM

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The president of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), Ilham Ahmed, announced on Thursday that she had held a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow on the previous day.

“The meeting was positive, in which it was emphasized the political solution for the Syrian crisis in accordance with the UN Resolution 2254 and the need for the SDC to participate in the political process, and the meeting members discussed the ongoing violations by Ankara of Syrian sovereignty,” the SDC said in a press statement.

Recently, Turkey stepped up drone attacks in northeastern Syria, targeting leaders of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Despite ceasefire agreements between Turkey and Russia and also Turkey and the United States in October 2019, Turkish-backed groups and the Turkish army itself continue to regularly target SDF-held areas.

The SDF has called on both Russia and the United States to pressure Turkey to uphold its agreement.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on the meeting with the SDC that it had reaffirmed its support for all problems that “hinder the full restoration of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, based on the provisions of UNSCR 2254.”

Moreover, the Russian side underlined the importance of a dialogue between the SDC and Damascus to reach an agreement to meet the legitimate aspirations of all the citizens of the Syrian Arab Republic, and to take into “account the regional characteristics and ethnocultural pluralism of Syrian society.”

Despite Russian mediation, talks between both the Syrian government and the Syrian Kurds on decentralization failed in the past, with the Kurds accusing Damascus of being stuck in its old pre-2011 authoritarian mindset.

Recently, the Syrian Kurdish leadership has responded positively by statements of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad about decentralization as a solution for the Syrian crisis.

Read More: Syrian government says it's open for decentralization, Kurdish education

It is expected that following its visit to Moscow, the SDC delegation will visit Washington.