Syrian Kurdish YPG expects negotiations with Damascus soon

The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia believes talks with the government over the future of the northeast region will begin in days after a “positive” reaction from Damascus.

Any deal between the YPG and President Bashar al-Assad’s state could piece together the two biggest chunks of a nation splintered by eight years of conflict.

Dialogue attempts have revived in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from the Kurdish-led region.

“There are attempts to carry out negotiations … the Syrian government stance was positive,” the YPG commander Sipan Hemo told Reuters. “We believe they will start in the coming days.”

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In a voice recording sent from his representatives late on Wednesday, Hemo said US moves to withdraw were over-hasty and could not happen while the battle against Islamic State militants still rages.

Syrian Kurdish leaders have sought Russian mediation for talks with Assad’s state, hoping to safeguard their autonomous region when US troops currently backing them pull out.

They fear an attack by neighbouring Turkey, which has threatened to crush the YPG.

On a recent visit, US envoy James Jeffrey talked to him and other officials about both satisfying Turkey and protecting northern Syria, Hemo said.

US arming of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the YPG spearheads, has infuriated NATO ally Turkey. Ankara sees the Syrian Kurdish fighters as indistinguishable from the Kurdish PKK movement that has waged an insurgency inside Turkey.

The Kurdish-led authority that runs much of north and east Syria presented a road map for an agreement with Assad in recent meetings with his key ally Russia.

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Hemo said there had been no direct talks with the state since, but Damascus had received the proposal, which focused on preserving Kurdish and minority rights, including education, as well as self-rule.

Kurdish forces and Damascus have mostly avoided combat during the war. Assad, who has vowed to recover the entire country, has long opposed Kurdish ambitions for a federal Syria.

Short-lived talks between the two sides last summer went nowhere.

Government officials were not immediately available for comment, but a minister last week expressed optimism.

Ankara has drawn on Syrian rebel proxies to help fight the YPG in the northwest before and has vowed to march further east.

Turkey’s foreign minister said on Thursday his country has the capacity to create a safe zone in Syria but would not exclude other states that want to cooperate.