Kurdish Group Says Talks With Regime Lead to “Road Map”

MESOPOTAMIA NEWS SPECIAL : PKK INSTRUCTED DELEGATES PRESENT AGREEMENT WITH BASHAR AL ASSAD / FOLLOWING THE OLDLINE OF THEIR LEADER APO OECALAN / MEETING WITH US ENVOY BRETT McGURK

By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – July 29, 2018 – Syrian Democratic Council officials address reporters

A Syrian Kurdish group claims that talks with the Assad regime have produced a “road map” for Kurdish autonomy.The Syrian Democratic Council said on Saturday that it had decided with the government to “chart a road map to a democratic and decentralized Syria”. However, the SDC gave no details and there was no supporting regime statement.

The SDC is linked to the US-supported, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which have taken much of northern and eastern Syria from the Islamic State since autumn 2015.

The regime has had tense relations with Kurdish groups as the SDF has established a Kurdish-controlled area in the Kobani and Cezire cantons. Bashar al-Assad has pledged that the regime will regain “every inch” of the country after an 88-month conflict, and pro-Assad forces have periodically clashed with the SDF, including a February battle in which hundreds of regime troops and foreign militia were slain by US airstrikes. In some cities and towns, control is divided between the two sides.

In May, Assad opened up the possibility of talks with the Kurdish factions while warning that he might resort to force. He emphasized that he regards the Kurdish administration in the north and east as “temporary structures”.

The Syrian Democratic Council said yesterday that committees will be formed “on various levels” to develop negotiations and end violence.

Saleh Muslim, the co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party, was more cautious. He said the meeting “cannot be called negotiations” but might be “a preparation for negotiations”.

Rejecting claims that the Kurdish groups had accepted the return of regime control, he said, “There are no agreements on the ground.” Before going to Damascus, SDC officials conferred with the chief US official for northern Syria, Brett McGurk. Washington offered no reaction on Saturday to claims about the talks.

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