Syrian Kurds Hope for Support From New US Leader After Elections

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Syrian Kurds hope that the next US president would be supportive of the minority and would not disregard them in the process of the Syrian settlement, Senam Mohamed, European Representative of the Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan) Administration, told Sputnik.

"We hope that the new government in the USA can support the Kurdish issue and find a solution for it," Mohamed said.

During the March round of talks in Geneva, Syrian Kurds back at home declared a "Federation of Northern Syria," or Rojava, autonomy that unites three Kurdish majority areas into one entity. The Syrian government and members of the opposition swiftly rejected the declaration.

Representatives of the Syrian Kurdish autonomy have been excluded from the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva despite their desire to take part. The delegations of the High Negotiation Committee, however, included two Kurdish nationals.

"As for the cooperation between Russia and the United States [on Syria], if it is on the basis of resolving the Syrian issue, then it is a positive thing. It should take place and end the terror that threatens the whole world. All components of Syrian state, including Kurds, must be taken into account," Mohamed added.

Both US presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, have been supportive of the Kurds in their statements. Clinton claimed that she would be in favor of providing assistance to the Kurdish forces. She counts on them in the planned offensive on Raqqa, the Syrian city held by the Daesh since 2013, the group’s Syrian headquarters since 2014.

Trump called himself “a fan of the Kurds” in a July interview with The New York Times. He meant, however, the Turkish Kurds. Commenting on the foiled July 15 Turkish coup, he expressed hope that the government of Turkey would find a way to work with the Kurds minority.

Presidential elections will take place on November 8. The candidates run neck-and-neck, with Trump being one percent ahead of Clinton, according to the ABC News/Washington Post poll as of November 1.