Kurds Halt HNC Participation as Geneva Talks Begin to Address Governance

Kurds have suspended their participation in the HNC delegation for the ongoing intra-Syrian talks as the delegation failed to respect Kurdish interests in their vision on political transition, while the talks finally started to address governance and constitution issues, Kurdish representative at the HNC delegation Abdul Hakim Bashar told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, three members of the HNC delegation in Geneva who represent the Kurds and the Kurdish National Council there, including Bashar, made an official statement announcing the Kurds' suspension of participation in the delegation and meetings at this round of talks.

"Why now? Because now the negotiations are progressing, the issues of governance and constitution are on the table, so the question of the Kurdish interests is urgent," Bashar said.

"For three past days we were talking to the HNC offering to write a letter to de Mistura assuring that the Kurdish people are represented in the delegation of the HNC," he said.

However, the National Coordination Committee (NCC, part of the HNC), headed by Hassan Abdul Azim, refused to accept the paper to de Mistura drafted by the Kurds in the delegation, explaining that the vote of those HNC members who are now present in Geneva is not enough for accepting it.

"It happened on Tuesday. When it happened, we went out from the meeting and did not participate in the HNC meetings since then. We waited until today for solutions, but the NCC suggested making a press release from the HNC media office as a solution. But we rejected and insisted it has to be an official note to de Mistura. We waited until today, but nothing happened," Bashar said.

The HNC's "executive framework for political transition in Syria" announced in September 2016 in London, disregards the Kurdish interests, he added.

"At the moment, in the HNC's vision on political transition there are some points that are seen negatively by the Kurds. Like in the first point in the main principles that says that Syria is indispensable part of the Arabic world. The Kurds have proposals on these points, but the HNC have not approved these amendments to their vision," Bashar explained.

Kurdish representatives at the HNC will make a final decision on their participation after the HNC holds a coordination meeting in Riyadh in April. So far, they have frozen their participation, the Kurdish representative pointed out.

The four baskets on the agenda of the ongoing intra-Syrian talks in Geneva which is due to end on March 31 are political transition and governance, constitution, elections and counterterrorism.