WASHINGTON DC—The United States State Department said Wednesday that Washington stands by the UN decision on the choice of invitees to the Geneva peace talks, which does not include the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). The State Dep. Deputy Spokesperson Mark C. Toner told Rudaw's Namo Abdullah that the United States stands "by the [High Negotiations Committee] HNC, it's current composition, and the choice by [UN special envoy to Syria] Staffan de Mistura to invite additional representatives also to participate in this process. We stand by the process thus far, how it's chosen who represents the Syrian opposition." The list of opposition groups invited to the talks on Friday are primarily groups backed by Saudi Arabia. Last December Riyadh invited representatives of these groups and formed the aforementioned HNC in a bid to unite the various groups fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The PYD wasn't invited. Nor are they being invited to the Geneva talks as a result, despite Russian insistence that they be represented there. This is likely due to the fact that the PYD haven't taken up arms against the regime as have the other groups. They have, however, been the most active group fighting on the ground in Syria against the Islamic State (ISIS) and the only force the US has been able to coordinate with on the ground in Syria.
