Great Powers stall Syrian peace talks

From a January 20, 2015, New York Times news article, Syria Talks Are Complicated by Competing Opposition Groups.  If you read the article, you may conclude hat the Syrian peace talks are  complicated not so much by competing groups, but by

• Turkey, which objects to Kurdish representation; 
• Saudi Arabia, which objets to any reprobation that isn't Salafist Jihadists; 
• Russia and Iran, which object to exclusion of Kurds, who are supported by Russia, Iran, a and the US; and 
• Iran, which objects to Salafist Jihadists determined to destroy Iran.

THE KURDISH DEMOCRATIC UNION PARTY

The party, known as the P.Y.D., is the main Kurdish force in Syria. Its militia controls a substantial area in the northeast and along the Turkish border. Russia wanted the group to be invited to the Geneva talks, but Turkey, which is fighting a Kurdish insurgency of its own, raised strong objections. The Saudi-backed committee also objected, saying it should be the sole opposition representative. The party’s leader, Saleh Muslim, said on Tuesday that no Syrian Kurdish officials had been invited to the Geneva talks.

 See here, and here,  for more on the obstacles to peace in Syria.  Plenty of blame to go around, and oil is at the center of it:

Russia objects to Qatar's oil going to Europe through Syria because Qatar's competition would destroy Russia's oil-based economy and Qatar wants a pipeline through Syria;

the Gulf dictators snd the US have blocked Iranian oil since Iran nationalized its oil five decades ago and old habits are hard to break even after they make no sense; they object to Iran's desire for a pipeline through Syria to deliver oil to Europe;

Russia finds Iranian oil  less objectionable than Qatar's since it would find Iran more amenable to price fixing that Qatar, it thinks.

The folks fighting on the ground are sectarian ideologues or are mercenaries beholden to one Great Power or another, except for the admirable Kurds,  who are communitarian, egalitarian, feminist and the most effective fighters in the regain.

No wonder that all except the Turks wish to arm them.