US welcomes Barzani, Abdi meeting

20-01-2025
Rudaw
A+ A-
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US State Department on Monday welcomed the recent historic meeting between Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani and chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi as one which could ease the political transition in Syria. 

“The United States welcomed the January 16 meeting between Kurdistan Democratic Party President Masoud Barzani and Syrian Democratic Forces Commander General Mazloum Abdi,” the State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs bureau said on X. 

Barzani and Abdi met in Erbil on Friday to discuss Kurdish unity against the backdrop of the events in Syria, over a month after Bashar al-Assad’s regime was toppled by an Islamist-led coalition, a development that pressured northeast Syria’s (Rojava) opposing coalitions to accelerate Kurdish unity talks.

“Intra-Kurdish dialogue can play a critical role in bolstering an inclusive political transition in Syria,” it stressed.

Rojava’s ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the opposition Kurdish National Council (ENKS/KNC) signed a historic agreement, mediated by Barzani, in Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province in 2015 to end tensions and share power in northeast Syria (Rojava), but the deal was never implemented. Each side blamed the other for its failure.

On Saturday, a Rojava representative to Washington with the SDF’s political wing called the meeting a “national demand” that highlighted the importance for the Kurds in Rojava to negotiate with Syria as a unified front. 

Sinam Mohamad, the representative, noted that a unified Kurdish front in Rojava would attract greater American and Western support. 
 

Comments

Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.

To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.

We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.

Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.

Post a comment

Required
Required
 

The Latest

From left: USAID and HRW logos. Graphic: Rudaw

USAID suspension worsens conditions in Rojava camps: Watchdog

Washington’s decision to suspend foreign aid is worsening conditions in camps holding thousands of people with links to the Islamic State (ISIS) in northeast Syria (Rojava), Human Rights Watch said on Friday.