Syria’s regime headed by Bashar Al-Assad accused Washington-backed Kurdish fighters of national ‘treason’ for collaborating with the US, which is leading an anti-ISIS alliance.
The Kurdish minority accounts for an estimated 15 percent of Syria's population and control a large chunk of territory in the country.
“When we talk about those referred to as ‘the Kurds,’ they are in fact not just Kurds,” AFP reported Assad as saying.
“All those who work for a foreign country, mainly those under American command ... are traitors.”
In turn, Assad’s remarks prompted an angry response from the Syrian Democratic Forces.
“Bashar Assad and what’s left of his regime are the last people with the right to talk of treachery,” the SDF said in a statement.
“It was the regime that flung the country’s doors wide open to hordes of foreign terrorists from across the world,” it added.
The Syrian opposition has long accused Damascus of releasing extremists in the early months of a largely peaceful uprising to turn it into an armed conflict.
More so, Assad said that expected talks at Sochi would examine whether Syria needs a new constitution or to amend its current one.
The main opposition group in Geneva has criticized the Sochi initiative, calling it an attempt to create an alternative track to the internationally supported peace talks.
Assad has portrayed the opposition delegation in Geneva as a proxy of hostile foreign powers.
He also launched a scathing attack against France, telling reporters, “France has been the standard bearer of support for terrorism in Syria since the early days of the conflict.”
“It is in no position to evaluate a peace conference,” he said.
