Syrian Kurds Not to Recognize Outcome of Geneva Talks

Abd Salam Ali, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party's representative to Russia, said that Syrian Kurds did not receive an invitation to take part in the negotiations, while terrorists did.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Syrian Kurds will not recognize the outcome of the upcoming intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva as the talks will be held without their participation, a representative of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) said Wednesday.

PYD has not been invited by the United Nations to the talks between the Syrian government and the opposition that are scheduled to begin in Switzerland on Friday. The Kurdish party accused Ankara of throwing its weight behind the UN decision.

"Syrian Kurds did not receive an invitation to take part in the negotiations, while terrorists did. For example, the groups Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam will be represented — the very groups that fired missiles at the Russian Embassy in Damascus," Abd Salam Ali, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party's representative to Russia, told RIA Novosti.

The Syrian Kurds have been supporting Damascus in the fight against the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, and the Nusra Front jihadist groups, both of which are outlawed in Russia and many other countries, for several years.

"They received an invitation, they will be represented, while the Kurds who have fought against these groups and the Islamic State for five years are not invited," he added.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the country’s government fighting a number of opposition factions and radical Islamist groups.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2254 on Syria's civil war settlement on December 18, which calls for an immediate ceasefire and defines a January deadline for UN-facilitated peace talks to commence.