Turkey objects to PYD as date for Syria talks remains unclear

Ankara has objected to the inclusion of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syrian peace talks on the side of the opposition, while the beginning of the peace talks, which were initially planned for Jan. 25, are still unclear. 

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said some circles, including Russia, wanted to ruin the Syrian opposition's position with groups such as the PYD, which he accused of collaborating with the Syrian regime and also attacking opposition groups. 

"As Turkey, we do not recognize any [group] other than the Syria national coalition as the opposition," state-run Anadolu Agency reported Davuto?lu as saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan. 21. "If others want to be at the table, then they can be on the side of the regime." 

Davuto?lu said the parties for a solution to the Syrian crisis needed to be defined, which he said were the regime, on the one side, and the opposition, on the other. 

He added that the opposition needed to choose itself who would represent them at the table, adding that no one had the right to impose anything on the opposition. 

Delays for peace talks 

Meanwhile, United States Secretary of State John Kerry said the planned start of the peace talks could be delayed by "a day or two" for logistical reasons, but that the process would roughly begin on time.

Kerry said any delay in the U.N.-led negotiations would be due to the sending of invitations to participants. 

"When you say a delay, it may be a day or two for invitations but there is not going to be a fundamental delay," Kerry told reporters as he sat down to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Associated Press reported.