PYD Representative to France Xalid İsa, who was in the committee that met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, said "We stated that a democratic Syria could only find peace through the project we propose. The efforts of some of our Russian friends were positive."

PYD Representative to France Xalid İsa spoke to ANF on the meeting they attended in Moscow.

What did you discuss with the Foreign Affairs Minister Lavrov in Russia?

In the meeting with officials from the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, we discussed how the constitution that they have proposed should be. After the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s statement on this issue, we met with the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Bagdanov and other Russian officials. Here, we discussed the draft of the new constitution and the fourth Geneva meeting. The parties expressed their opinions on current obstacles.

When will the Geneva -4 meeting take place?

The Geneva meeting was scheduled for February 8 but has been postponed to February 28. During the meeting we had in Russia, it became clear that a peaceful negotiation cannot be made without the participation of the PYD and Kurdish people. When pro-Turkey groups found out that the project of democratic autonomy was to be discussed and Kurds would have an impact, they withdrew from the meeting.

Does Russia want the participation of Kurdish people in the new Syria that is to be designed?

They have an agenda for Kurdish people that is called Cultural Autonomy. We stated that such an agenda’s inclusion in the new constitution would not be adequate. We reminded them of the Federal Syria proposal that had been made in 1920s. We emphasized that their proposal was inadequate and our project of Democratic North Syria Federation is a better option. They expressed their desire to continue these meetings and exchange ideas on this issue because the number of meeting participants that try to make the new constitution is insufficient. The efforts of some of our Russian friends were positive. We emphasized that the project of Democratic Northern Syria Federation is a better and well-researched project that is compatible with the multi-social and multicultural reality in Syria. We noted that we have been implementing this project in an area that spans across 20 percent of Syria for three years now. The officials requested the file of our project and we gave them the comprehensive file that we had prepared. Lastly, our meeting ended in a positive atmosphere as we told the officials that a democratic Syria could only find peace through the project we propose.