The interim president of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa. Photo: Ozan Kose / AFP / Profimedia
The presidency of Syria rejected the call of the Kurds on Sunday for a decentralized state and condemned the “recent activities and statements” of the ethnic minority group, AFP reports.
“We clearly reject any attempt to impose a separatist reality or to create separate entities under the cover of federalism (…) without a national consensus,” said the Syrian presidency in a statement in which he also condemned the “recent activities and statements” of the Syrian democratic forces (SDF) led by the Kurds.
“The unity of Syria, the people and its territories is a red line,” the press release shows.
The statement came one day after the conference in which Syrian parties Kurde adopted a common vision for a “decentralized democratic state”.
The new authorities in Syria, who replaced Bashar al-Assad, removed from power in December, repeatedly rejected the idea of Kurdish autonomy.
The Kurds supported by the US control extensive areas of northeastern Syria, a large part being taken over in the process of defeating the jihadists from the Islamic State organization during 2015-2019. The Kurds enjoyed de facto autonomy after the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, but the new authorities in Damascus insisted on a unitary state.
In March, the interim president of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and the head of FDS, Mazloum Abdi, signed an agreement to integrate the Kurdic institutions in the Syrian state.
“My message to all Syrian voters and the Damascus government is that this conference does not concern, as some say, the division,” said Mazloum Abdi, during the Saturday event.
Instead, he said, the conference concerns the “Syria Unity”.
“We argue that all Syrian components receive their rights in the Constitution in order to build a decentralized democratic Syria that will encompass everyone,” said FDS, Mazloum Abdi.
Most of the oil and gas fields in Syria are located in areas administered by the Kurde authorities. They could prove to be a crucial resource for the new regime in Damascus, in an attempt to rebuild a country devastated by war.
