December 23, 2015•Update: December 25, 2015
MOSCOW
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Moscow is ready to support Kurdish groups fighting against Daesh in Syria.
Lavrov was speaking during a press conference in the Russian capital with Turkey’s opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chairman Selahattin Demirtas on Wednesday.
Russia’s top diplomat said: “We know very well that there are Iraqi and Syrian Kurds that are fighting against the Daesh threat on ground.
“They are fighting for their right to live in their homes and for their right to live in their own land, with Iraqi and Syrian armies.
“Of course, this is their essential right. They have rights, just like Christians, Ezidis and other minorities have the right to stay in their own land, to live in the land of their ancestors.”
Lavrov further said Russia was ready to support anyone that is fighting against terror as part of their counter-terrorism operation with the Syrian administration.
Russia has been getting closer to the PYD -- the terrorist PKK’s Syrian affiliate -- since last October. Senior PYD figures have visited Moscow in recent months.
The Russian government has been repeatedly accused of targeting moderate anti-Assad forces in Syria, disguising such strikes as anti-Daesh operations.
An Amnesty International report published on Oct. 13 this year claimed the PYD had been forcing Arab and Turkmen populations from their homes in territory it controls in northern Syria.
Demirtas, whose HDP party receives majority of its support in Turkish regions mostly inhabited by Kurdish voters, visited Moscow amid strained relations between Russia and Turkey.
Following his meeting with Lavrov, Demirtas said he believed the recent diplomatic crisis between the two countries should be resolved through dialogue, for which he argued that his HDP did its part.
The opposition leader maintained that the meeting had been planned long before although it took place amid tensions between the two countries.
Demirtas said his party remained critical of "pro-tension policies" both at home and in international relations.
He rejected criticisms over his Moscow visit, saying his party’s policies were very clear and transparent.
"We share our clear opinions no matter whom we meet with. HDP has never [done] anything clandestine," he said.
Demirtas also said that his meeting had nothing to do with a solution for the Kurdish issue.
The party is also set to open a bureau in Moscow.
Demirtas’ visit has received criticism from some Turkish politicians. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan said earlier this week that HDP members were “running towards any country that has problems with Turkey instead of being on the side of their country to say ‘how can we help?’”.
The leader of Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also accused the HDP of collaborating with the country's enemies.
"HDP is working with Turkey's enemies and does not see a drawback in leaning its back to countries whose aims are clear, so as to take their support for autonomy and Kurdistan," MHP leader Devlet Bahceli said Tuesday during his party's group meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara.
Tensions remain high between Turkey and Russia following Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian military jet last month over an airspace violation. After the incident, Russia imposed a range of unilateral sanctions against Turkey, including a ban on food imports.
