Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party has called on Turkish officials to engage in dialogue with northeast Syria's ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD), following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent expression of intent to normalize relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Tuncer Bakirhan, co-chair of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), emphasized the importance of inclusive negotiations in a televised interview. “Let there be talks, but these talks should not exclude the Kurds or suppress their demands. Let Erdogan meet with Assad, but also meet with the PYD,” Bakirhan stated.

Turkey considers the PYD as the Syrian extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group that has engaged in a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state and is classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara. Nonetheless, Bakirhan argued against using this stance as a barrier to dialogue, pointing out that Ankara has previously welcomed PYD leaders.

“They met with the PYD multiple times. Salih Muslim and Asya Abdullah [PYD co-chairs] came and were welcomed by the state media, it was wonderful. This is the right approach. Instead of hostility with Syria, let the future of Syria be decided by the Syrian people,” he said.

Bakirhan urged Erdogan to foster relations with both Assad and the PYD. “Be brothers with Assad, and also with the PYD,” he stressed.

Erdogan’s comments on Friday mark a significant shift in his policy towards Assad’s regime. “Just as we once developed relations between Turkey and Syria, we will act together in the same way again,” Erdogan told journalists in Istanbul.

This marks a notable reversal from Erdogan's earlier stance when, as prime minister, he condemned Assad for violence against his people and demanded his removal, labeling him a “terrorist.”

Throughout the Syrian conflict, Turkey has backed various rebel groups, including some with links to extremist organizations. Turkish forces have also conducted multiple incursions into Syrian territory, most notably in the 2018 operation against Kurdish forces in Afrin.

The Syrian civil war, which began in March 2011, has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and created a severe humanitarian crisis. The country is now fragmented into three main areas: the northeast controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the PYD's Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), the northwest held by Turkish-backed rebels, and the remainder under Assad's control. The Islamic State (ISIS) continues to operate in the vast Syrian desert, exploiting the security vacuum to carry out attacks.

As Turkey looks to reset its relations with Syria, the call for inclusive talks by the DEM Party highlights the ongoing complexities and diverse interests in the region.