GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) Russia, while mediating the talks between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus on the deployment of troops along the border with Turkey, has been pressing on the Syrian leadership to ensure Kurdish rights and intends to continue to do so, Ahmad Suleiman, a senior member of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party (KDPP), told Sputnik.
The Syrian Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party is independent from the SDF, but it has been directly engaged in the talks with Damascus. Suleiman confirmed to Sputnik that he and party leader Hamid Darwish had had meetings with Syrian top officials in an attempt to "reach an understanding within the framework on how to remove aggression from the entire region and ensure the safe implementation of the military agreement."
"Russia, who has initiated this dialogue, plays the role of a mediator and also pledged to continue meetings and press the Syrian government to provide the Kurds with some rights. Russia calls for talks between the Kurds and the regime," Suleiman said.
On Sunday, the de facto Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) announced in a statement on social media that it had reached an agreement with Damascus that foresaw the deployment of the Syrian troops along the entire borderline with Turkey to counter the latter's incursion.
On Monday evening, the Syrian army entered the city of Manbij in the north of the country, which was earlier held by the NES, Syrian state tv reported.
The Russian center for Syrian reconciliation also said late on Monday that a number of settlements in the provinces of Aleppo, Raqqa and Hasakah had announced the restoration of Syrian sovereignty on their territory because of the inability of the NES to protect the population and solve humanitarian problems.
For almost a week Turkey has been conducting Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria aimed at clearing the area from Islamic State (banned in Russia) terrorist organization and Kurdish militias (SDF, PYD/YPG), whom Ankara designates as terrorists.
