Syrian Kurds feel left out of Geneva II
Syrian Kurds fear the upcoming Geneva II conference will ignore their voice and not recognize a form of Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria.
AMSTERDAM — During a Jan. 15 press conference in Paris, Salih Muslim, leader of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said he was disappointed that the Russians and Americans did not allow the Kurds to have their own delegation at the Geneva II conference, scheduled to take place on Jan. 22. "If the Kurds did not attend with their own independent delegation, then no one there will represent the Kurdish people, and their legitimate rights in the country will not be ensured," he said.
On Dec. 24, members of the two main Kurdish blocs, the Kurdish National Council (KNC) and the PYD, agreed that the Syrian Kurds would go to Geneva II with a single Kurdish voice, as an independent delegation or as part of the Syrian National Coalition.
On Jan. 18, the Syrian National Coalition decided to go to Geneva II, and members of KNC’s Foreign Relations Committee will represent the KNC at the conference. The former president of the Syrian National Council (SNC), Abdulbasit Sayda, a Kurd, told Al-Monitor it’s not clear yet who from the KNC will go. “We have some names from the KNC, but we will have to see how many will go,” he said.
Washington-based Kurdish journalist Sirwan Kajjo told Al-Monitor that the KNC delegation will be headed by Hamid Darwish, and will most likely include Ibrahim Biro, Abdulhakim Bashar, Kamiran Hajj Abdo and Mustafa Sino, leading members of Kurdish parties in Syria.
