Riad Darar, co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), told Reuters on Friday the delegation in is headed by Ilham Ahmed, executive head of the SDC.
Syrian Kurds are the backbone of the multiethnic US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has liberated considerable areas of northern Syria from ISIS control.
The aim of talks is to increase cooperation between the Assad regime and Syrian Kurds to improve public services, particularly electricity infrastructure. The SDF controls Syria’s largest power generating dam at Tabqa, which urgently needs repairs.
Aldar Khalil, a senior official in Syria’s Kurdish administration, told Rudaw this week that Kurdish officials are willing to assist the Assad regime’s operations in Idlib province if Assad then looks north to remove Turkish forces from the Kurdish canton of Afrin in Syria’s northwest.
In January 2018, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch against the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which forms part of the SDF, and took the control of Afrin city in March. Since then, the SDF has tried to use all its diplomatic and military capabilities to liberate Afrin.
Damascus has repeatedly called on Ankara to remove its forces. Turkey, which has long supported the Syrian opposition, has been building military outposts in rebel controlled Idlib.
Syrian Kurds have not been invited to peace talks in Geneva or Astana – the latter at Turkey’s insistence.
Friday’s meetings are the first direct talks between the SDF and the Assad regime since the start of Syrian civil war.
Syrian Kurds are hopeful that more cooperation with the Assad regime can undermine the presence of Turkish forces.
