Turkey wants Syrian Kurds in Syria peace talks, strictly singles out PYD

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has strongly reiterated his government's categorical objection to the participation of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) taking part in U.N.-backed talks planned for later this week seeking a political solution to the Syrian crisis, while also making clear their objection was not aimed at excluding Syrian Kurds entirely from the negotiations.

"We believe there should be a table where Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, Sunnis, Nusayris [Alevis] and Christians are all together. Kurds' presence at the table is an obligation," Davuto?lu said on Jan. 26.

"A table without Kurds will be lacking. However, we are against the [People's Protection Units] YPG and the PYD, who repress Kurds too being at the table, but not against Kurds," Davuto?lu said at a meeting with deputies of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Turkey, a major sponsor of the insurgency in Syria, has long said it was against the participation of the PYD, which plays an important role in fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Ankara considers the PYD and its military wing, the YPG, to be offshoots of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"Those who are recognizing them as a legitimate partner, they don't live in the reality of the region. Nobody can convince us that these people are for peace," Davuto?lu told CNN International in remarks aired on Jan. 25.

Çavu?o?lu talks to Kerry twice in two days

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu resumed telephone diplomacy over the planned talks in Geneva. Çavu?o?lu spoke to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Jan. 26 while on a visit to Strasbourg to hold talks at the Council of...