DAMASCUS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Kurds in northern Syria seem to be more willing to negotiate with Damascus after President Bashar al-Assad's remarks of opening door for negotiations.
The willingness also came after the United States reached a deal with Turkey about jointly administering the Manbij city, which is under the control of Kurdish-allied local forces in the northern countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria.
The Manbij Military Council (MMC), a local force partner with the U.S.-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has rejected the U.S.-Turkish deal for settling the situation in Manbij, as Turkey longed to enter the area along with its allied Syrian rebels to oust the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which is allied with the Turkish-banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).
Dislodging the YPG and allied forces from Manbij was the next Turkish plan to eliminate the Kurdish threat in northern Syria near the Turkish border after the Turkish troops and Syrian rebels overran the predominantly-Kurdish district of Afrin in March.
Both Manbij and Afrin are located on the Syrian-Turkish border, but unlike Afrin, U.S. forces are present in Manbij, which apparently pushed Washington and Ankara to reach the agreement.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recently said that U.S.-Turkish agreement includes the withdrawal of the YPG from Manbij to the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, where the SDF and the United States have a heavy presence. It added that the Manbij Military Council will remain in the Manbij.
A watchdog group said that the U.S. and Turkish forces will deploy on the frontline between Manbij and its countryside, where Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are in position.
However, the MMC was cited by the pro-government al-Watan newspaper on Thursday as saying that it will not accept Turkish military presence in Manbij, and the YPG military advisors will leave Manbij in the coming days.
The Syrian Kurds in northern Syria wanted to negotiate with Damascus without preconditions, said the newspaper.
Mays Kreidi, spokeswoman of the National Democratic Front, Syrian opposition group, said the atmosphere is positive in the predominantly Kurdish areas in northern Syria about the negotiation with Damascus, citing Kurdish figures.
Kreidi said that a delegation of her group met with the Elham Ahmad, a co-chairman of the Syrian Democratic Council, which is the political wing of the SDF, in the northern city of Qamishli. She added that the council agreed to send a delegation to negotiate with Damascus without preconditions.
Assad has stressed Syrian army's determination to capture all Syria areas and said that the United States must withdraw from Syria.
It is worth noting that the SDF has spearheaded the war on the Islamic State (IS) in the northern province of Raqqa, which was the de facto capital of the terror-designated group.
Riad Darar, another co-chairman of the Syrian Democratic Council, stressed that the negotiation with the Syrian state is the best way to reach results that serve Syria, according to the al-Watan newspaper.
He said that the SDF has prepared itself to fight IS, and the SDF is ready to be a part of the Syrian army after a settlement, adding that the SDF alliance with the foreign forces was to get rid of terrorism.
Observers believe that the positive interaction comes apparently after Kurdish political groups in predominantly-Kurdish areas in northern Syria sensed the risk of keeping on reliance on the United States.
Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said that "neither Turkey nor the United States has the right to negotiate regarding the Syrian cities," stressing that the Syrian forces will liberate every inch of the Syrian territory.
