WASHINGTON—The United States held direct talks with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) for the first time over the weekend, US State Department spokesperson said on Thursday. “We have for some time had conversations through intermediaries with the PYD. We have engaged over the course of just last weekend with the PYD,” Jen Psaki told reporters. The PYD is the dominant Kurdish party in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) led by Salih Muslim. Psaki said that the talks between the US government and PYD had taken place outside the region without providing further details. PYD’s armed wing, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) has been locked in a fierce battle with Islamic State (IS) militants in Kobane for a month. The news of talks between the US and PYD come a day after US jets conducted an intensive round of air strikes against IS positions in and around Kobane. Meanwhile, PYD leader Salih Muslim is holding talks with leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan and other Kurdish parties over the status of Rojava’s autonomous cantons and the defense of Kobane and other PYD-held territories.
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