Syria talks won’t work without Kurds present, says PYD

MOSCOW: Syria peace talks set for next week in Geneva will be a failure unless the Kurds are at the table, a representative of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) said on Wednesday. “It’s clear that if we want to resolve the Syrian crisis, everyone must take part,” said party co-chair Asya Abdullah, after a conference in Moscow involving Kurdish representatives from Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. “Any decisions taken without us are ones we will not be required to abide by,” she added, speaking in Kurdish through a Russian translator. “But then, resolving the Syrian crisis will be impossible.” The Kurds are ready to come to Geneva but have not yet been invited, said Abdullah, who added that Ankara could undermine the peace efforts. “Where there is Turkey there cannot be any solution, because all of Turkey’s efforts are directed towards keeping Kurds from gaining anything,” she said. The Kremlin stepped up support of the Kurds during its falling out with Ankara over the downing of a Russian military plane at the Syrian border in 2015. — AFP