Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States has banned Kurdish leaders who fought Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

Two U.S. lawmakers have urged the administration of President Barack Obama to drop the ban against leaders of the Democratic Union Party of Syria. Reps. Chris Van Hollen and Marsha Blackburn said the Democratic Union, known as PYD, marked one of the most effective partners in the U.S.-led war against ISIL.

“While we welcome the U.S. bombing campaign against ISIL targets and the dropping of arms supplies which have helped the PYD forces defending Kobane, we think it is important to expand our contacts with this critical Syrian partner in the war against the IS[IL] and other salafist jihadists active in the country,” the two members of Congress said in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry.

Congressional sources said the ban on PYD and its leader Salih Muslim highlighted the alliance between Obama and Turkey, Middle East Newsline reported. Turkey has deemed PYD an ally of the Kurdish Workers Party, designated by the State Department as a terrorist group.

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“As we understand it, the reluctance to issue a visa to Salih Muslim is partly due to Turkey’s concerns about the PYD and its links with the Kurdistan Workers Party,” the letter dated Dec. 18, 2014 but released on Jan. 14, said. “However, the Turkish government has itself been negotiating directly with the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan. It has also engaged on a number of occasions in conversations with Salih Muslim in Ankara, including at the level of the under secretary of the Turkish Foreign Ministry.”

PYD has not been on the State Department terrorist list. Ms. Blackburn and Van Hollen said the movement, which battled ISIL in Kobane, sought to protect the Kurdish minority in Syria. In Iraq, PYD was said to have helped end the ISIL siege around Mount Sinjar.

“As the U.S. continues its campaign to degrade and ultimately destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, we believe that the PYD is one of the most effective partners the U.S. has on the ground in Syria,” the letter to Kerry said.

Muslim has sought to arrive in the United States in January 2015 to meet the U.S. foreign policy community. The letter said the PYD co-chairman, invited to a conference in Washington, did not plan to meet U.S. officials.

  Administration bans Kurdish leaders fighting ISIL, in deference to Turkey, WorldTribune.com