ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Syrian Kurdish leaders say it would help their cause if the Kurdistan Region attends the much delayed Geneva II conference, where a political settlement will be sought to end the crisis in Syria after more than two years of civil war.
“The participation of the Kurdistan Region will be highly significant for Syrian Kurds," says Mustafa Cuma, head of the Democratic Freedom Party of Syria. A delegation at the presidential level would strengthen the Kurdish position at the conference, he says.
"The Kurdistan Region is linked to Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava)," Cuma says. "It enjoys great influence there and has stood by Rojava."
The Geneva II peace conference is an initiative of the United Nations, with the aim of ending the war in Syria through a political solution. The conference has been delayed several times, and there is still no firm date for when it could take place.
Falah Mustafa Bakir, the Kurdistan Region’s minister of foreign relations, says that if Erbil takes part it will be as part of an Iraqi delegation.
“The Kurdistan Region hasn't been formally invited, but if we take part, it will be as part of an Iraqi delegation," he told Rudaw.
Syrian Kurdish groups which chose not to join the fighting against President Bashar Assad’s regime insist that a federal system is the viable solution for Syria’s future. They prefer to emulate the system of Iraqi Kurdistan that has allowed the Kurds to run their own affairs independently of Baghdad since 1991.
To win international support for their cause Syrian Kurdish leaders like Salih Muslim, head of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), have held talks in Europe and Russia.
Russian officials have aired strong backing for Syria's Kurdish groups, lately insisting that the Kurds be treated as other Syrian opposition groups at the Geneva conference and given a chance to present their agenda.
