"The UN hasn’t announced its list of invitees or those extended in an advisory role, but our understanding is that the PYD won’t be participating in this week’s talks," said State Department spokesman Mark Toner, VideoNews.US reported him as saying.
He said the U.S. stands by the Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC), its current composition and the decision by UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura to invite additional representatives to participate in this process.
"The exclusion of the PYD, at least in this initial round of talks, was a decision taken by de Mistura and his people, and it was partly a reflection of these meetings to define the Syrian opposition and basically, you know, choose who among the Syrian opposition would represent them going forward into these talks," he said.
As a member of the International Syria Support Group and a stakeholder in this process, Toner stressed that Turkey obviously had its "very real and almost existential concerns" about peace and stability in Syria as the ongoing crisis threatens Turkey directly on its border, Daily Sabah reported.
Turkey considers PYD as a terrorist group as it is the Syrian affiliate of PKK -- which is also designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.
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