Syrian Kurdish leader Salih Muslim holds secret talks in Turkey

Syrian Kurdish leader Salih Muslim holds secret talks in Turkey

Salih Muslim, co-president of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the biggest Kurdish party in Syrian Kurdistan. Photo: AFP • See Related Articles October 5, 2014 ISTANBUL,— The leader of the main Syrian Kurdish political party is in Turkey for secret talks with intelligence officials as the battle rages with militants for the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, Turkish media said on Sunday. The leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Salih Muslim held talks with officials from Turkey’s intelligence agency, the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), in Ankara on Saturday, the Hurriyet daily reported, quoting security sources. The meeting came after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu last week held talks with Selahattin Demirtas, the co-chairman of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) who asked Ankara to help Kurds in the fight for Syrian Kurdistan's Kobani. According to Hurriyet, the Turkish officials encouraged Muslim’s PYD to join forces with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) which has been battling the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al Assad. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has for years pressed for the ousting ofwww.Ekurd.net Al Assad and wants this to remain a clear goal amid the battle against Daesh militants. The PYD is linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which waged a deadly insurgency in Turkey for the last three decades but has largely observed a ceasefire since 2013. Turkey has previously shown little interest in developing links with the PYD because of its links with the PKK, which is regarded as a terrorist group by Ankara. Muslim was told in Ankara the PYD should distance itself from the PKK and also clearly state its opposition to Al Assad’s regime. But he was also offered the prospect of logistical support for the group’s fight against militants, the reports said. Regions and cities names in Kurdish may have been changed or added to the article by Ekurd.net. Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, AFP Syrian Kurdistan Rojava - Related Articles Syrian Kurds say air strikes against Islamic State are not working 5.10.2014 Islamic State militants captured a strategic hill overlooking Syrian Kurdish Kobani town 5.10.2014 'They are right': Young ex-Islamic State Syrian Kurdish hostage shocks reporter, family 5.10.2014 Islamic State jihadists pound Syrian Kurdish Kobani town 5.10.2014 Syrian Kurdish town still under siege by Islamic State despite allied air strikes 5.10.2014 Turkish president Erdogan: No difference between IS, Kurdistan Workers' Party 4.10.2014 Left-wing Danish party backs Syrian Kurdish YPG rebels 4.10.2014 New US air strikes hit Islamic jihadists outside Syria Kurdish Kobani town 4.10.2014 Syrian Kurdish female fighters target 'Islamic State' 4.10.2014 Kurds call to arms as Islamic State closes in on Syrian Kurdistan's town 4.10.2014 Top