The Kurdish people should closely follow the recent talks between Turkey, Syria, Russia and Iran, said Saleh Muslim, the co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main party of the Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria on Saturday.
The four countries, engaged in quadripartite talks over a rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus, have come together over their animosity against the Kurds, Muslim told Fırat News Agency.
“The Syrian regime is an enemy of the Kurds. Turkey is the strategic enemy of the Kurdish people. Iran’s longstanding approach to the Kurdish issue is obvious. Russia wants to bring them all together for its own interests,” Muslim said.
Muslim said all four countries want to end the existence of the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria.
“If Russia really wants to solve this problem, we have been in contact since 2012, it could have solved it with the [Syrian] regime but unfortunately it did not do that. It is approaching the issue pragmatically,” Muslim added.
Ankara and Damascus have deeper issues to solve, but what they have in common is their plans about the Kurdish-controlled territories, according to Muslim.
“We are taking our precautions against all these. They think that if they eliminate the Kurds, the United States will leave the area. The United States is not here for the Kurds. They are here for their interests over the Middle East,” Muslim said, referencing the some 900 American troops currently in northern Syria for joint operations with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (ISIS).
The Russia-brokered reconciliation talks between Turkey and the Bashar Assad government in Damascus is expected to continue with a meeting between four countries’ foreign ministers in May.
During an interview with A Haber this week, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey, Syria and other interested parties should jointly fight against terrorism, implying the Kurdish armed groups in northern Syria which Turkey sees as affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The minister added that Iran is also disturbed about the current situation in northern Syria.
