MESOP NEWS BACKGROUNDER: WHILE PYD/PKK TRAVELS TO MOSCOW – SYRIAN KNC KURDS ARE INVITED IN WASHINGTON

Washington Invites Syrian Kurdish Officials for First Time

ARA News  2017-01-27 02:15 GMT – The US State Department has officially invited the Kurdish National Council in Syria (KNC) to Washington for talks, planned for late February, to discuss their views on a solution for the future of Syria, officials said on Thursday.This is the first time that Syrian Kurds are being invited to meet with officials of the new administration of Donald Trump, who was inaugurated as president on the 20th of January.

“The goal is to discuss with the new US government our policy and our views on Syria, and Syrian Kurdistan,” Kamiran Haj Abdo, a leading member of KNC’s foreign relations office told ARA News.”The invitation shows the important role of the KNC as a representative of Syrian Kurds,” he said. Abdo added that two officials of the KNC were invited, without specifying which officials will go to the USA. The State Department has not confirmed the invitation yet.

Members of the KNC also met Michael Ratney, the US special envoy to Syria last week, on 23 January, to discuss the future of Syria and the humanitarian situation in Syrian Kurdistan.While the KNC is invited to Washington, Kurdish officials affiliated to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) were invited to Moscow this week.

PYD representative in France Khaled Issa, PYD’s co-Chair Asya Abdullah, and the head of Kobane canton administration Anwar Muslim were invited to Moscow upcoming Friday to meet with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.  While the KNC sees the creation of a Kurdistan region of Syria as a solution to the crisis, the PYD asks for a multi-ethnic federation for the north of Syria. www.mesop.de