Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov again insisted on Thursday that the Syrian Kurds should be invited to the peace talks at Geneva. It is important, Lavrov said, to have "a stable and direct character of intra-Syrian dialogue" which gives the negotiations "a truly representative character." "In particular, we consider it absolutely necessary to invite the leadership of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party [PYD] to participate in the Geneva talks," Lavrov added according to Russia's Sputnik news. The Russian Foreign Minister made the remarks at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). Turkey has been adamantly opposed to any participation by the PYD in Syrian talks arguing that it is closely linked with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and should consequently be excluded from both the Geneva talks and the ceasefire in Syria like Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamic State (ISIS) have been. The PYD, and the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), have, however, proven to be a valuable asset for the US in Syria in its ongoing war against ISIS.
