Syrian president condemns Kurdish calls for federalism
Kurds and other minorities in Syria are concerned Ahmad al-Sharaa is constructing an extremist religious government that excludes non-Sunnis
The office of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa condemned recent Kurdish calls for federalism in Syria, saying they contradict an agreement reached between Damascus and authorities from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the country's autonomous northeast.
Sharaa's office issued a statement calling on the SDF to sincerely adhere to the agreement concluded with the Syrian government and to prioritize the supreme national interest.
On 10 March, SDF leaders reached a deal with Sharaa's government to integrate its forces into the Ministry of Defense. The SDF currently controls northeast Syria, administering it alongside occupying US forces as an autonomous region. The SDF-controlled northeast includes Syria's largest oil fields.
The SDF leadership cannot monopolize decision-making in northeastern Syria, the statement from Sharaa's office added, while warning against disrupting the work of Syrian state institutions in areas controlled by the SDF.
"The unity of Syria, its land and people, is a red line," the statement concluded, while claiming that the rights of the Kurds, as well as the rights of all components of the Syrian people, will be protected.
Sharaa issued the statement in response to calls for federalism issued following a conference to promote Kurdish unity that took place in northeast Syria on Saturday, 26 April.
The Kurdish Unity and Consensus in Western Kurdistan Conference gathered over 400 Kurds from Syria, Iraq's Kurdistan Region, and Turkiye.
Kurdish political groups attending the conferenceagreed on a joint vision for a "decentralized, democratic state" that guarantees Kurdish rights and calls for a national dialogue to reshape the country's future, according to the final statement issued by the conference.
"The vision safeguards Kurdish ethnic rights, upholds international human rights principles and treaties, and promotes women's rights and participation across political, social, and military spheres," read the statement.
"It contributes to building a new Syria that accommodates all its people without exclusion or marginalization of any of its components, away from unilateral domination in thought and practice," the statement read.
The conference's final statement recommended that its vision be adopted as a foundation for national dialogue among Kurdish political groups and between Kurds and the new administration in Damascus.
Kurds in northeast Syria, like other minorities in the country, are concerned about Sharaa's centralization of power and reliance on Islamic jurisprudence in the transitional constitution that has been adopted by the interim government in Damascus.
Sharaa became the de facto Syrian president after his organization, Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS), toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad in December. HTS is the former affiliate of Al-Qaeda in Syria and promotes a genocidal, sectarian ideology against non-Sunni Muslims, in particular against Alawites.
Sharaa vowed to form an "inclusive transitional government that would reflect Syria's diversity," but has faced domestic and international criticism following recent mass sectarian killings of Alawites.
On 7 March, gunmen affiliated with the Syrian government descended on the coastal regions of Syria, massacring thousands of Alawite civilians. Gunmen affiliated with the Ministry of Defense and General Security went door to door in Alawite neighborhoods and villages, executing all fighting-aged men, as well as some women, the elderly, and children. The gunmen also looted and burned homes.
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