U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish group says it agreed to chart roadmap with regime

BEIRUT

The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the armed group the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said on July 28 that it and the Syrian government had decided at a meeting to form committees to develop negotiations to end violence in Syria

The committees would "chart a roadmap to a democratic, decentralised Syria", said the SDC, according to a Reuters report.

The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which constitutes the backbone of the SDC, and its military wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), are deemed by Turkey as offshoots of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara, the U.S. and the European Union.

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government has oscillated between reaching out to the Kurds and lashing out at them for collaborating with the Americans.

Last year, the Syrian foreign minister said self-administration for the Kurds is "negotiable."

Damascus has also sharply criticized a Turkey-backed offensive against a Syrian Kurdish enclave in northwestern Syria, and left roads open for the movement of aid and people out of the Kurdish enclave.

The SDC had announced last month that it was prepared to hold talks with the Syrian government over the future of the area.