The Turkish Foreign Ministry is set to meet with representatives of the Kurdish High Council, the power-sharing body formed last summer between the PYD and the Kurdish political parties that compose the Kurdish National Council (KNC). The body is currently the acting government in Rojava. The visit will follow similar meetings between representatives of the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the co-chairman of the PYD, Muslim Sahil, earlier this summer. However the meetings marks the first time that Turkey will sit down in an official capacity with the Kurdish High Council.

In an interview with Özgür Gündem, İlham Ehmed – a member of the 6 person committee that traveled to Ankara as a representative of the Kurdish High Council – spoke to the paper about the visit. Ehmed reported that a number of different issues are on the agenda for the meeting, but that the current embargo directed against Rojava, the passage of humanitarian aid, and the establishment of friendly relations are among the most pressing. Furthermore Ehmed told the paper that the Kurdish High Council plans to meet with the representatives of a number of European countries while in Ankara. The visit is set to last three or four days. Below is a translation of some of what Ehmed had to say.

On the significance of the invitation

No matter how late the visit is it is an important invitation. We have now come to the point where we receive official invitations. We will visit with a segment of state representatives as well as a number of European embassies.    

On Geneva 2

We wanted to attend the conference as an independent party. For the time being this is being greeted positively. As is known since the beginning of the war we have been the party that has operated the best and placed itself in the best position. We drove the regime out of our region but  we did not place ourselves under the authority of other groups. For this reason we have the bright to attend the conference as an independent power.

On the support given by foreign powers to al-Nusra, ISIS and other al-Qaeda affiliates

No one will benefit from supporting these gangs. There may be parties with different interests but this will not serve anyone’s interests. They are attacking Kurds and other peoples in the name of Islam. We have resisted them until now and we will continue to resist them. They provoked a significant response from the YPG and the people.

Separately, the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu also answered questions about the upcoming meetings during a press conference with the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica. Davutoğlu called the meetings a ‘necessity’ before the Geneva conference, however he emphasized the need for the PYD to join the Syrian National Coalition and for the YPG to cease to operate as an independent and armed force. Davutoğlu did not admit publicly that Turkey is supporting armed groups in their attacks against Kurds in Rojava.

* Translated and edited by The Rojava Report