ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Opposition parties in northeast Syria have demanded a 50/50 partnership in the region’s governance, military and other affairs in their talks with the ruling authorities, an opposition leader told Rudaw English on Saturday.
A new round of talks between the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Kurdish National Council (ENKS) ended “successfully,” according to Mazloum Abdi, general commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which is dominated by the PYD’s military arm.
“We hope that both political parties [ENKS and PYD] prioritize the future and interests of the public. Together and united, we can prevail and write history,” he tweeted.
However, opposition officials have said that they are unwilling to commit to a written agreement with the PYD until further concessions are made.
“No signing took place because we will not sign on something while disagreeing on other issues. It has to be a complete agreement,” Sulaiman Oso, a member of the ENKS leadership told Rudaw English on Saturday.
“We believe that unity should not be limited to [a] political position, but [include] everything: political, administrative, military, economic and security [affairs],” he said, adding that some “political understandings” were reached in the first phase of talks.
The two sides have been at odds for several years, with the ENKS accusing the PYD of being unwilling to share power in northeast Syria, known to Kurds as Rojava.
The ENKS-PYD talks first took place in Duhok in 2014. Initiated by Masoud Barzani, then president of the Kurdistan Region and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the initial talks ended in a deal which was never implemented.
“Our [new] talks began on the basis of the Duhok agreement which says that there must be a 50/50 partnership between the PYD and its allies on one side and the ENKS and its allies on the other side. We are going to talk about administrative, military, security and economic points as well,” Oso added.
Senior PYD official Aldar Xelil told party media that they are not willing to share political and military power with the ENKS, claiming they have no obligation to do so.
“We believe that the guarantee of our success will be unity between us and other [ethnic and religious] groups. We will never accept a Kurdish deal which is on the account of the destruction of our administration or if it makes us the enemies of other groups,” he told PYD-affiliated Ronahi TV on Thursday.
The PYD official also said that they cannot offer administration positions to the ENKS because they have not been elected to the various governing bodies, and rejected the idea of ENKS-affiliated Peshmerga forces deploying to Rojava.
“Our position on military affairs is clear. It is impossible for two military forces to be present in a country. However, if the youths of this country want to do their patriotic duty, they can join [the SDF].
Oso termed Xelil’s comments as “inappropriate,” saying they do not serve the spirit of the ongoing talks.
“What Aldar Xelil said was not appropriate. Dialogues do not take place on television channels or other media outlets, but a place where there is international monitoring.”
He hopes a deal will be reached soon to send a positive message to the international community.
“Kurds can have a unified position and it will send a message to countries in the region that we do not pose any threat to anyone,” Oso added.
