SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - Intransigence on the part of both the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and international actors is undermining prospects for a solution to the conflict in Syria, Democratic Union Party (PYD) co-chairman Salih Muslim said.


SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region ? Intransigence on the part of both the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and international actors is undermining prospects for a solution to the conflict in Syria, Democratic Union Party (PYD) co-chairman Salih Muslim said.

In a May 29 statement on the anticipated Geneva conference to be hosted by the US and Russia later this summer, the SNC reiterated its position for talks with the Syrian government, saying it ?requires the head of the regime, security and military leadership to step down and be excluded from the political process."

Muslim, a leader of the National Coordination Body (NCB), a coalition of opposition groups based in Syria which favors dialogue over violence, said the SNC's position would only encourage a continuation of the war.

?If they are saying Assad should go out or fall before any negotiations, it means they are not willing to negotiate. If they insist for Assad to leave before dialogue, it means Assad will stay for more than 20 years," Muslim told Rudaw. "There are sides supplying him with weapons and money, and he won?t hesitate to kill tens of thousands.?

Muslim added that the failure to invite Iran to the talks, a crucial actor in the Syrian conflict, showed that international powers were also not serious about reaching a solution. He called on Western countries to pressure Saudi Arabia and Qatar to stop sending weapons to armed factions. The Syrian regime would not sincerely negotiate without being forced by Russia and Iran, he said.

Muslim confirmed that the NCB was invited to the Geneva conference and is planning to participate. The Supreme Kurdish Council has applied to Moscow and Washington for permission to join, but has yet to receive an answer, he said.

?In the future, if they are going to have any deal with the Kurds, they will need to deal with the Supreme Kurdish Committee,? Muslim said. ?We would like to have good relations with the United States. We see Western democracy as a solution for the Middle East,? Muslim said, dismissing allegations that the PYD represses other Kurdish parties as "not true."

The PYD leader's statement comes amid speculation that relations between Syrian Kurdish and the exile-based Syrian opposition could improve as Turkey and the Kurdisatan Workers Party (PKK) take tentative steps toward an accommodation. Muslim said he expects improvements but has not seen any yet.

?The opposition has good relations with Turkey. If they were refusing to recognize the Kurdish people and deal with them, it was by effect of Turkey. Turkey was telling them to do so," Muslim said.

"If Turkey recognizes its own Kurdish people, it can?t tell others not to recognize their Kurds. Because of this I think the process going on in the north will be better for us. It will be easier to deal with the Arab opposition inside Syria.

RUDAW