MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In late 2016, a number of representatives from Democratic Union Party (PYD)-led Kurdish groups, including the PYD itself, took part in a meeting at the Russian military base Hmeimim. The meeting was instigated by the commander of Russian troops in Syria, Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, and was intended to help Kurds create a unified political front ahead of resumed settlement talks.
"We think that such talks should be held either on Russian territory or in the Syrian city of Qamishli… Still, we told the Russian side that we are ready for dialogue. Russia is a major force that has significant influence on the process of Syrian settlement," Mihemed, who represents the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria within the ENKS, said.
He stressed that national council turned down the invitation to Hmeimim as it is located on territory controlled by the Syrian government.
"Taking part in the talks in Latakia would have been a show of weakness on our part in political terms," he said.
The ENKS, backed by the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party, is a more rightist nationalist group compared to the PYD. The latter has come to dominate the politics of northern Syria's Rojava federation, while the ENKS continued to lose seats in the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Kurdish-led militia coalition.
The earliest Syrian peace talks are likely to start in late January in Kazakhstan's capital Astana. The talks follow a UN Security Council Russian-Turkish-backed resolution on a ceasefire. A nationwide ceasefire between Syrian government troops and several opposition factions has already come into force.
Turkey has insisted that the PYD should not take part in the Astana talks. Turkey considers the PYD to have links to the pro-independence Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), active in southeastern Turkey and listed a terrorist organization by the latter.
