We are going to Geneva to defend Kurdish cause: ENKS leader

Syria’s Kurdish National Council (ENKS) on Monday announced its participation in a new round of negotiations, which begin in Geneva tomorrow to find a solution to the Syrian conflict.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Syria’s Kurdish National Council (ENKS) on Monday announced its participation in a new round of negotiations, which begins in Geneva tomorrow to find a solution to the Syrian conflict under the auspices of the United Nations.

In an official statement, head of the ENKS Ibrahim Biro said his party would participate in the negotiating delegation in the eighth round of the Geneva talks, noting that “the task is very difficult.”

Talks on the Syrian conflict are set to resume in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday, with the UN hoping a united delegation for the Syrian opposition will be present for the first time to participate in the negotiations which have previously failed to reach a successful settlement.

The UN-sponsored talks to resolve the ongoing Syrian crisis, which has killed over 450,000 people since 2011, have not achieved much in the previous rounds and were followed by separate diplomatic moves led by Russia, Turkey, and Iran.

“We are going [to Geneva] to defend our cause and take a step forward, possibly on the issue of withdrawal—this will only be our last choice,” Biro explained.

Meanwhile, Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy to Syria, recently confirmed gradual progress in negotiations, even though some groups are “deadlocked.”

He also expressed the hope that the eighth round will be the beginning of “real negotiations.”

The participants in the peace talks are divided between those who support a Syria with current President Bashar al-Assad still in charge and those who are against his role in the future of the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is Assad’s supporter, recently called for a “national Syrian conference” involving representatives of the Syrian regime and the opposition, a proposal supported by Ankara and Tehran.

 

Editing by Sam A.