The following article was originally published in Ekurd Daily on November 21, 2016.
VIENNA,— It is hard to imagine the resumption of the political process in Syria without Kurds, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Monday.
Gatilov said UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura should “fulfill his mandate defined by relevant UN Security Council resolutions and resume the intra-Syrian dialogue on a broad representative basis as soon as possible.”
He said the opposition’s delegation should “include representatives of all… Syrian opposition groups that have their political platforms.”
“Another mandatory condition without which is it hard to count on successful resumption of the political process: Kurds should be included in the negotiating process. Kurds are a real military and political force having control of a considerable part of Syrian territory, which actively participates in the fight against terrorism,” Gatilov said.
Russia and U.S. regard the Kurdish YPG in Syrian Kurdistan as key ally against Islamic State and the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and has provided them with air support as well as the military advisers. The Kurdish militia has seized swathes of Syria from IS.
Syrian Kurds have established three autonomous zones, or Cantons of Jazeera, Kobani and Afrin and a Kurdish government across Syrian Kurdistan (northern Syria) in 2013. On March 17, 2016 Syria’s Kurds declared a federal region in Syrian Kurdistan.
Access the article in Ekurd Daily.
