MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The fact that the Syrian Kurds have not been invited to take part in the intra-Syria talks in Geneva contradicts UN Security Council resolutions on the Syrian reconciliation, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said.
The reconciliation talks are expected to kick off on April 11, with the Syrian government’s delegation anticipated to come to Geneva on April 14.
"We are concerned that the Syrian Kurds, historically woven into the social fabric of the country, still have not been invited to the Geneva talks. Such policy contradicts the line of the UN Security Council resolutions on inclusiveness of the political process in Syria," Churkin said in a comment.
Russia has presented to other members of the council a draft statement to the press calling for the nature of the Syrian peace talks to be as inclusive as possible, according to the official.
"We were surprised when this project was blocked by several Western countries. The Ukrainian delegation also played its destructive part," Churkin added.
The previous round of Syrian talks wrapped up on March 24 after ten days of intense discussions. The round ended in delegates submitting their proposals on how to stop the conflict to UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura who then produced a final paper with points of convergence.
Kurds, the largest ethnic minority and an integral part of the Syrian society, have received no official invitation to join the past and future round of Syrian peace talks. The Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) claims that its participation in the intra-Syrian talks was blocked by Ankara because of its assumed links to the pro-independence Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), active in southeastern Turkey and listed a terrorist organization by the latter.
