Syrian Kurdish PYD to participate in Geneva talks

QAMISHLO, Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdistan24) – The leading Kurdish party of the ruling council of Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) confirmed on Sunday that after being excluded many times from Geneva peace talks, it will be involved in the next round of negotiations.  

Speaking to Kurdistan24, Sihanouk Dibo, the presidential advisor to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said that the United Nations (UN) Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura sent a detailed letter to the PYD leadership.

“De Mistura’s letter contains 29 points explaining the roadmap of the transition period for Syria, and I confirm that the PYD is involved in the upcoming round of Geneva talks,” Dibo said.

On the reason that de Mistura thinks of inviting the PYD to the negotiations, Dibo said that the unique experiment and achievements in Rojava in terms of democracy and war against terrorism drew the attention of the peace talk’s brokers.

“The crisis of the Syrian civil war has two main aspects: war against terrorism and the democratic change in some regions in Syria. Both aspects succeeded in Rojava,” he said.

In the earlier negotiations of the current talks referred to as Geneva III, PYD was excluded, and only the Syria’s Kurdish National Council (ENKS) was included as a part of the Syrian opposition national coalition.  

In a previous interview with Kurdistan24, Saleh Muslim, the co-leader of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said, “Turkey’s only concern in Syria is the Kurds, instead of solving the dilemma in the country. This intervention for selfish purposes hinders any efforts to find a solution to the crisis.”

Muslim in many other interviews confirmed that the Turkey’s intervention in the Syrian crisis aimed at stirring up nationalist and anti-Kurdish sentiment among the factions of the Syrian society.

It is worth mentioning that up to the moment, Syrian-Kurds are not represented in Geneva talks as a separate faction, but rather they are melted in the Syrian Government and opposition delegations.

They are fractured into three main groups: Damascus-based Syrian Kurds' National Initiative (SKNI) within the Syrian Government’s negotiating body, ENKS belonging to the Syrian opposition, and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), who were excluded from the negotiations until now.

Reporting by Hisham Arafat

Editing by Ava Homa