Syria’s Kurds not invited to Geneva peace talks

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Syria’s Kurds – one of the forces fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) forces in that country -- will not be represented at peace talks scheduled for this Friday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed on Wednesday.

He said that UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, had not invited the Democratic Union Party (PYD) to the Geneva peace talks.

"The PYD group was causing the most problems, and Mr. de Mistura told me he had not sent them an invitation letter," Fabius said according to Reuters.Turkey opposes the PYD having a presence at the talks since it perceives the group to be little more than the Syrian wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Russia has insisted that the PYD be represented in the talks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went as far as arguing on Tuesday that it would be impossible to reach a peace agreement in Syria without including the Kurds in talks.

While the PYD hasn't fought the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, it has fiercely combated the ISIS group.The opposition at Geneva is to be represented primarily by groups backed by Saudi Arabia which, last December, gathered representatives in Riyadh for a summit.

Riyadh did not invite the PYD back then, likely due to the fact that the PYD has not fought Assad to date.