Syrian solution could include Kurdish interests too: Russian Deputy FM
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – After the 12th round of the Astana peace talks on Syria concluded on Friday, a senior Russian official stated that solutions to the crisis in the embattled nation could be reached in a way that embraces the interests of Kurds as well as other groups.
Dignitaries from Russia, Turkey, and Iran met on Thursday to discuss current issues related to Syria in Nur-Sultan, the newly-renamed capital of Kazakhstan previously called Astana.
However, representatives of Syria's Kurds, who account for about 10 percent of the population and currently control large swaths of territory in the north and northeastern parts of the country, were not invited to the meeting.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov claimed in an interview with Kurdistan 24 that Kurds were not marginalized in the peace talks.
“We have relations with all the parties that are involved in this [Syrian] crisis. For us, it is important that the sovereignty of Syria is protected. This is our primary point, and we are not ready to make compromises in this regard. Only after that, we can find a solution in a way that includes the interests of Kurds too,” Ryabkov said, following the peace talks.
“Talks are ongoing. We are in discussions with Turkey. Just for clarity, I would like to assert that we have no hidden intentions in this situation.”
Ryabkov mentioned that Moscow is in constant talks with Ankara regarding its continued threats to launch an attack into Kurdish-populated areas in Syria located east of the Euphrates River, “but our negotiations with Turkey might not necessarily have positive results.”
The US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been playing a highly significant role in defeating the Islamic State in northern and eastern Syria over the past few years. Currently, the SDF maintains firm control over a substantial amount of territory.
The three nations who acted as guarantors of the Astana meetings agreed to invite two additional neighboring states, Iraq and Lebanon, to subsequent high-level meetings on Syria as "observers."
The twelfth round of Astana peace talks, which lasted two days, came to a close without critical progress on the stated objective of forming a constitutional committee aimed at reaching an initial political settlement in the war-torn country.
A joint statement released by Russia, Turkey, and Iran stated that the participants had discussed the proposed constitutional committee with UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen and that further talks would be needed in Geneva.
Editing by John J. Catherine
(Additional reporting by Khoshawi Mohammed)