The PKK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.
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The High Negotiations Committee says it must be the sole opposition representative, but other opposition figures and Syria’s Kurds have been excluded from its ranks and also want to participate in the talks. “Secretary Kerry also emphasized the importance of maintaining the momentum of the International Syria Support Group following its meetings in Vienna and NY and following passage of UNSCR 2254”, the department said in a statement on Saturday.
Who sits among the opposition negotiators has emerged as the key sticking point in landmark political talks with the Syrian government that were scheduled to begin January 25 in Geneva.
With no military solution in sight after nearly five years of war and more than 250,000 deaths, Mr Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday agreed the talks should go ahead despite no apparent agreement on who should represent the opposition. Diplomats said they were still likely to happen next week and before a deadline of 30 January laid down by the UN.
Davotoglu told an audience in Davos that Damascus and Moscow are to blame.
In a relevant context, Russian President’s special envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Bogdanov said earlier that the Syrian opposition should not put preconditions that could obstruct the inter-Syrian talks scheduled in Geneva, asserting that the Syrian opposition will bear a historic responsibility if it hinders the talks. Russia has weakened US opposition to Assad seeking re-election, according to Russian and Western diplomats. The HNC has also threatened to boycott the talks if any other opposition groups are invited.
The dispute about who will represent the opposition in Geneva is playing out against a backdrop of foreign powers’ deep involvement in the complex, multi-sided Syrian conflict.
“The Security Council is clear”.
Zahran Alloush and his Islam Army group are a powerful opposition force which operates in the eastern countryside of the capital Damascus.
Riyad Hijab, the former Syrian president coordinating the preparations, said: “Dates are not sacred”.
“When there is a serious potential for a real negotiation, you will see everybody trying, first verbally, rhetorically, secondly militarily to take a better position”, he told CNN on Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday insisted peace talks would go ahead in Geneva next week but they would not be face-to-face.
He said that a “de-escalation” of tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia was necessary.
“The government of Syria will be wherever it is Mr. Staffan decides they will be and the…”
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The group is fighting Islamic State (IS) but Ankara believes it is closely tied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought a three-decade insurgency for greater autonomy in Turkey.
