Syrian Kurds likely to go to Geneva II conference as two separate teams

The Kurdish opposition forces in Syria have not been able to unify their stands on the participation in the Geneva II conference at a time when the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, PYD, which is loyal to the Kurdistan Workers Party, is preparing for participation in the conference, due to be held next month, within the framework of the delegation of the National Coordination Body [NCB] which it is working under its banner, the Kurdish National Council [KNC] stressed its commitment to the decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition [SOC] will adopt since it is part of it.

Although the Kurds of the NCB and the SOC agree on the need for "recognizing the rights of the Kurdish people and for entrenching them constitutionally," this agreement has not prevented their determination to go to Geneva in two separate delegations.

The main disagreement between the two sides lies in the attempt of the DUP to control the decision of the Syrian Kurds "and control their political fate," according to what is emphasized by Subhi Dawud, member of the KNC, in his statement to Al-Sharq al-Awsat, pointing out that the KNC will not participate in the Geneva II conference except within the delegation of the Opposition Coalition."

Dawud pointed out that "the issue of recognizing the rights of the Kurdish people and obtaining guarantees in the future will be raised by the council on the negotiation table." He pointed out that "they agree on this issue with the DYP, but at the same time he emphasized that "this party is having a military wing in the Kurdish areas and controls most of the cities, which makes it feel of an extra power and a desire to dominate the Kurdish decision." The military wing of the DUP is fighting within the units of the Kurdish People Protection in the cities of Al-Hasakah and Al-Qamishli where fierce battles are taking place between them and Islamic elements affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and the Al-Nusrah Front.

On the other hand, DYP leader Salih al-Muslim, in a statement to Al-Sharq al-Awsat, denied that "the political hegemony was behind the fighting which the elements of his party are waging in the Kurdish areas." Al-Muslim pointed out that "the Union will participate in the Geneva II conference within the NCB delegation, in which we are a major part," stressing the "need for calling for the democratic rights of the Kurdish people through achieving the democratic federalism and administering the Kurdish areas through an accord among its components."

Al-Muslim considered that "the constitutional recognition of the rights of the Kurds should coincide with a federal administration that achieves decentralization without this meaning a demarcation of borders that divide us from our partners in the homeland." While Al-Muslim supports the NCB concerning not setting a condition that Syrian President Bashar al-Asad should step down in order to go to the Geneva II conference, he stressed that "the stay of Al-Asad should coincide with the removal of his powers."

And while Al-Muslim distinguishes between the progress in the field which is made by his forces in the areas that have a Kurdish majority, the latest of which was controlling the Al-Ya'rubiyah border crossing between Syria and Iraq, and the political track that precedes the holding of the Geneva II conference , Kurdish activist Miral Brurda told Al-Sharq al-Awsat that "the Syrian regime facilitates the progress the PYD is making on the ground to ensure its presence in the Geneva II as one of parties that support it within the NCB."

Brurda explained that "the Islamic expansion of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and the Al-Nusrah Front in the Kurdish areas has created an incubator environment for the PYD and made it the only force that represents the Kurds."

The Kurdish People Protection forces, in which the elements of the PYD represent the largest part, are tightening their control on the area which extends from the Tigris River on the Iraqi-Syrian border, through Al-Malikiyah, Al-Kahtaniyah, Amuda, and Al-Darabisah, until reaching the city of Ra's al-Ayn. And while there is no presence for the Free Army's battalions in these areas after most of them joined the extremist Islamic groups, the latter control the area from Al-Bukamal, adjacent to the Euphrates River, passing through Al-Riqqah and until Tall Abyan, in addition to their control of large parts of the area of Janub al-Rad and the Tishrin oilfields.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat website