A member of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria (AFP)


US officials are in talks with Kurdish groups in northern Syria, seeking a unity agreement among factions to limit pressure from Turkey and the Assad regime.

Sama Bagdash, a spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), confirmed, “There are separate meetings with both delegations [and US diplomats] in order to prepare for meetings between both sides.”

The US Embassy in Syria hinted at the initiative in mid-January:

The PYD is the controlling Kurdish political group among the Kurdish factions. However, Turkey considers its YPG militia to be part of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK.

Turkey and anti-Assad groups overran the Kurdish canton of Afrin in northwest Syria in early 2018, and Ankara launched a cross-border operation in October 2019 to take a corridor across the Kurdish cantons of Kobani and Cezire in the northeast.

Meanwhile, the Assad regime, pledging to regain “every inch” of Syria, has disrupted supplies to Kurdish communities in Syria’s largest city Aleppo.

Power-Sharing Among Kurdish Groups?

PYD spokesperson Bagdash said the talks have been paused in a second phase after agreement on six starting points. Topics will include the participation of the opposition Kurdish National Council (ENKS), and return of ENKS-affiliated peshmerga fighters to work with the US-backed, YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The PYD-led, 24-party coalition Kurdish National Unity Parties (PYNK) has taken control of Kurdish authorities during the 119-month Syrian conflict, but there have been contacts since late 2019 with ENKS since late 2019 over a power-sharing arrangement.

In June 2020, the rival groups said in a joint statement that they “concluded the first stage of Kurdish unity negotiations and reached a binding and unified political vision”, and pledged to continue talks “with the aim of signing a comprehensive agreement in the near future”.

However, the discussions then stalled.

Sulaiman Oso, a member of the ENKS delegation, confirmed a recent meeting with the US deputy envoy to Syria, David Brownstein, but denied contact with the PYNK.

Oso said it is not clear when talks will resume.

SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi, who met Brownstein in mid-November, tweeted on Sunday:

The success of ENKS-PYNK dialogue is our aim. The deals we have made are important and they protect the interests of our people. It is the duty of everyone to make preparations for the new phase of unity so that the new phase begins in the coming days.