Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had warned late on Tuesday that Turkey will boycott the talks on Friday if the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) was invited.
Speaking at a news conference, presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın reiterated Turkey's opposition to PYD participation in the negotiations and said Turkey's objections have been shared by other countries as well.
The participation of the PYD has emerged as a sticking point in the run-up to the Geneva talks, which were originally scheduled to take place on Monday, but were delayed amid disputes on which Syrian groups should attend.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, on Wednesday discussed preparations for Syria peace talks due to take place in Geneva on Jan. 29, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Turkey is categorically opposed to the PYD's participation because of its links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Russia, on the other hand, was in favor of inviting the PYD, whose armed wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG), controls large areas of northern Syria and has become an important partner in the US-led fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Kalın, apparently in reference to Russia, complained that there was a last-minute effort to include the PYD in the list of invitees despite an earlier understanding that it would not be part of the talks.
"This last-minute attempt to include it in the talks ... is contrary to the efforts and talks so far," Kalın said.
"It is of course unacceptable that a group which exerts pressure on other groups, refuses to align itself with the Syrian opposition, maintains shady relations with the Syrian regime and dirty relations with the PKK terrorist group be put forward as the representative of the Syrian Kurds. Since this has been an understanding shared by other countries as well, the final decision [on which groups will be invited] was made as of yesterday," Kalın said. "We will be represented during the talks at the highest level."
PYD leader Saleh Muslim said on Tuesday that he had not been invited and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed the PYD's exclusion on Wednesday, saying he was told by United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura that the PYD would not attend the talks.
"The PYD group was causing the most problems, and Mr. de Mistura told me he had not sent them an invitation letter," Fabius told the France Culture radio station.
Fabius said the negotiations for the opposition will be led by a Saudi-backed opposition group...
[todayszaman.com]
27/1/16
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Related:
Turkey against PYD, not Syrian Kurds, says PM Davutoğlu
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