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Kurdish Parties Differ over Return of Syrian Peshmerga

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. (AFP file photo)
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. (AFP file photo)
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Kurdish Parties Differ over Return of Syrian Peshmerga

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. (AFP file photo)
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. (AFP file photo)

The second round of discussions among US-sponsored Kurdish political parties tackled defense and protection affairs and how to allow Syrian Peshmerga forces to deploy in Kurdish regions in northeastern Syria, revealed informed Kurdish sources.

The Kurdish National Council and the Kurdish National Unity Parties met earlier this month at the international coalition base in al-Hasakeh. The meeting was attended by commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi.

The defense and protection file is witnessing major challenges and has raised doubts about whether the seven-month long Kurdish talks will yield positive results. This is the thorniest issue because the Peshmerga – the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish National Council – has since its formation in 2012 been deployed in the neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The Peshmerga is comprised of Kurdish defectors from the Syrian regime army and volunteers from Kurdish regions.

Leading commander of the force said it comprises some 7,000 fighters, none of whom have fired a single shot in Syria.

“We did not take part in battle inside Syria, but when ISIS attacked the Kurdistan region in mid-2014, we were forced to join the fighting and we lost several martyrs,” he added.

A prominent official in the Kurdish council said the Peshmerga are estimated at 15,000 members, including 7,000 fighters and 8,000 recruits.

The Kurdish sources described the ongoing negotiations between the Kurdish parties as “very complicated and sensitive”. They cited the difficulties in returning the Peshmerga amid the deployment of a second major Kurdish force, the People’s Protection Units (YPG). The YPG are the military backbone of the SDF that controls the majority of regions east of the Euphrates River and receives support from the international coalition to fight ISIS.

Any Kurdish deployment needs to take into account threats from Turkey amid its rejection of the presence of such forces near its borders.

The return of the Peshmerga will require an international agreement between the countries deployed east of the Euphrates.

According to the Kurdish official, their return hinges on a comprehensive intra-Kurdish agreement being reached, which includes defense and protection and that they play real role as partner. It also hinges on an international agreement, with UN sponsorship, and understandings being reached between Moscow and Washington. Most importantly, regional armies involved in the war, especially Turkey, must keep out of the area.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.