Syrian Crisis 'Impossible' to Resolve Without Kurds

"Resolving the Syrian crisis without Kurds is impossible," he said. The Kurds "are self-sufficient and they have their own armed forces. [All stakeholders] need to find common ground with the Kurds. Otherwise Syria will not have a promising future."

Kurdish militias have been one of the most efficient forces battling Daesh both in Iraq and Syria.

Ebdulselam Eli described Syria's current state as "dire."

Syria "is partially controlled by Daesh, al-Nusra Front and other terrorist groups. It is also partially controlled by the Kurds and Damascus. The later does not have enough forces to take the entire country under control and rule it," he noted.

Russian officials have repeatedly said that representatives of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), one of the leading political forces in Syria, have to be invited to the UN-sponsored talks in Geneva. "Russia and the United States understand that it is extremely important that Kurdish representatives take part in the Geneva talks. This is why both have insisted [that Kurds are invited]," Ebdulselam Eli said.

"However, there are forces that are against this, primarily Turkey," he observed. "When Turkey is asked why Kurds who control 22 percent of the country are not taking part in the negotiations, Ankara says that the Kurdish National Council which is part of the Syrian opposition is present in Geneva. However, unlike the PYD, the Kurdish National Council does not really administer any areas in Syria. Turkey does not want to accept reality as it is."

The Kurdish National Council, an organization opposed to the PYD, was established by the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraqi Kurdistan in October 2011.

The fourth round of the Geneva talks was launched on February 23. Its participants include UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, the UN Security Council, the International Syria Support Group, a delegation from Damascus led by Syria's envoy to the UN Bashar Jaafari, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), an umbrella organization headquartered in Riyadh, as well as the Cairo and Moscow groups. 

On Friday, de Mistura presented a working paper on procedural issues to the delegations of Damascus and the HNC with his proposals for the current round of Syria talks. According to a Sputnik source, the UN special envoy expressed his support for direct talks and suggested that the negotiations should focus on three main topics, comprising governance, constitution and elections.

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