Turkey against PYD, not Syrian Kurds: Davutoglu – “WE KNOW THEM & HOST THEM”

26 Jan 2016 – KURDPRESS – Syrian Kurds need to be a part of the peace process to end the civil war, but those treating the PYD group as a legitimate partner “do not live in the reality of the region”, Turkey’s prime minister said Monday. “Without Syrian Kurds, the table cannot be complete. What we are against is YPG”, Ahmet Davutoglu told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, referring to the armed wing of PYD.”Those who are recognizing them as a legitimate partner, they do not live in the reality of the region,” said Davutoglu. “Nobody can convince us that [PYD] is for peace”.

The prime minister’s remarks came ahead of new Syria peace talks set to begin Friday in Geneva.The talks were initially scheduled to start Monday but were delayed by disagreements about which opposition factions would participate.He criticized Russia’s role in the conflict and said Russia is intervening “in a very negative manner, in fact occupying Syria”.Russia “like others can contribute to the peace process”, he said, “but we expect Russia to respect Syrian civilians and … not to push Syrian civilians towards Turkish border.”He said 90 percent of Russian airstrikes in Syria had so far targeted civilians and moderate opposition groups, as well as schools and hospitals. “We know these, because all those who were injured by Russian bombardment are escaping to Turkey”, he said. “Only 10 percent of Russian airstrikes are against Daesh (IS).” www.mesop.de