ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Mazloum Abdi, chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), on Tuesday met with the Kurdish National Council (ENKS/KNC) for the second time in a month. Both sides agreed to send a joint delegation to Damascus to discuss the future of Kurds in new Syria, ENKS spokesperson said.
"Today, we met with Mr. Mazloum Abdi with the presence of the officials from the global coalition. In the beginning [of the meeting], Mr. Mazloum Abdi expressed his joy for his meeting with President Masoud [Barzani]," Faysal Yousef told Rudaw late Tuesday, referring to the historic meeting between Abdi and the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Erbil on January 16.
Unity talks between the ENKS and northeast Syria's (Rojava) ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) have been stalled for years but fresh efforts by American and French officials seek a unified Kurdish stance in new Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
A coalition of rebel groups, spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched an offensive late November, toppling the regime. The country is navigating a transitional phase.
"He [Abdi] said that we should support the creation of Kurdish unity, adding that this issue has been approved [by him]. He asked for our opinion and we responded that our opinion is positive as well. He said that we should create a unified Kurdish stance, as demanded by Kurdish community, and form a delegation," added the ENKS spokesperson.
"He emphasized that we should work on these issues together, create a unified Kurdish stance and send a joint delegation to Damascus," Yousef said, adding that the meeting was "very positive."
"I can say that if it continues like this, in a near future, both points that we agreed on will be implemented. We can say that a Kurdish delegation, when possible, will go to Damascus," he stressed.
PYD and ENKS signed a historic agreement, mediated by Barzani, in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province in 2015 to end tensions and share power in Rojava, but the deal was never implemented and each side blamed the other for its failure.
Both sides have engaged in a media war, accusing each other of treason.
Yousef said they and Abdi agreed to end the media war.
The SDF is the de facto army of Rojava and the main partner of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.
Khalid Jameel contributed to this article.
