SDC: Syrian Kurds Seeking Diplomatic Contacts With Damascus

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Syrian Kurds are seeking to have diplomatic contacts with Damascus, which do not exist at all at the moment, however, the communication at a military level is proceeding very well, Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) Representative in the United States, Bassam Saker, told Sputnik.

Russian special presidential envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, said on Wednesday that the Syrian Kurds and representatives of the Syrian government held meetings, and it was possible to work out certain decisions. Lavrentyev expressed hope for the continuation of such contacts between the Syrian Kurds and Damascus.

"We would like to have diplomatic contacts with Damascus, and have made requests and attempts to reach out to the authorities. However, up until now we have not received any response from them," Saker said. "Our military contacts are very good and beneficial."

The United States backs Kurdish armed groups in Syria despite protests from Damascus. The US military currently controls parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Raqqa, Aleppo and Deir Ez-Zor, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located.

The Syrian government does not recognize the so-called autonomous administration of northern and eastern Syria, and calls the presence of the US military on its territory an occupation and its theft of Syrian oil - state piracy.

The armed conflict in Syria has been ongoing since 2011, with various insurgent groups, including terrorist organizations, fighting the Syrian Army to oust the government of President Bashar Assad. In late 2017, the Daesh* terror group was declared defeated in Syria and Iraq, but counterterrorism mop-up operations are still underway.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist organisation outlawed in Russia and many other states