Syria peace talk ends despite Kurds, opposition's objections

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Turkey, Iran, and Russia will enforce and maintain a trilateral ceasefire in Syria while rejecting the Kurds and opposition’s objections to the process of achieving the results.

The Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and its political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD) were excluded from the Syrian peace talks brokered by Tehran, Moscow, and Ankara in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Kurds believe the solution to the six-year-long Syrian civil war is “through democratic autonomous zones that preserve the unity of the Syrian land and that we are applying on the ground.”

Syrian Kurds and their inclusive militia have been at the heart of the US-led fight against the Islamic State (IS).

Moreover, they control large swaths of territory in northern Syria known as Rojava.

“We, in the [YPG], believe the entities that are participating and that have sponsored these talks are part of the problem in Syria in the first place,” the YPG said in a statement.

The Kurdish force is considered the most effective unit battling IS and have avoided clashes with other groups.

However, their participation at the peace talks was rejected by Turkey and Iran who are afraid of Kurdish aspirations within their borders.

Iran has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by sending Shia militias to combat the opposition and IS, thus investing in the sectarian fight.

On Monday, the Syrian fighting groups said militias linked to Iran, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, had systematically breached the ceasefire agreed on Dec. 29, 2016.

Therefore, the Syrian fighters rejected Iran’s role in the proposed ceasefire and shed doubt on Tehran’s credibility to monitor or enforce peace.

The spokesperson of the opposition said the presence of Iranian-sponsored militias alongside regular Syrian government troops made peace difficult to achieve, calling on them to leave the country.

He also called for the release of prisoners from government jails, saying 13,000 women were being held arbitrarily.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany