Nawaf Khalil of the Democratic Union Party said his group is not lobbying for a Kurdish region but rather an inclusive area with representation for Turkmen, Arabs and Kurds in northern Syria.
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“We have given our blessing for the establishment of a federal system in Rojava and northern Syria”, Mr Khalil said.
The declaration is likely to alarm Turkey, which fears the growing autonomy demonstrated by Syrian Kurds could encourage separatism among its own Kurdish minority.
The official said it was up to the Syrian people to “decide on the executive and administrative structure of Syria in line with the new constitution which will be formulated through the political transition process”.
“Any declaration related to federation is worthless and will have no legal, political, social or economic impact”, Syria’s official news agency SANA quoted an unnamed official at the Foreign Ministry as saying.
However, the U.S.-backed rebel group, the National Coalition, warned against “any attempt to form entities, regions, or administrations that usurp the will of the people”, echoing the Syrian government’s opposition to the move.
The High Negotiations Committee, the main opposition grouping which is involved in peace talks under way in Geneva, has also rejected a federal system for the country.
“We’re not interested in self-autonomous… areas in Syria”, Kirby said, adding that federalism would have to be an option explored by all parties of the conflict.
What’s more, the idea of partitioning Syria into a collection of federalized states has been met with vehement opposition from both sides of the civil war.
The declaration further complicates the situation on the ground in Syria even as peace talks press ahead in Geneva. “The objective is not to divide the Syrian territories, and we started with this initiative (in northern Syria) hoping that it will prevail in all Syria”.
The Syrian central government largely withdrew from the Kurdish zones in the north more than three years ago, as Assad’s forces concentrated on protecting the capital and other heavily populated areas. They are now considered not only an area of potential American investment, but also among the more effective fighters in the shifting group of USA allies in Iraq and Syria.
Dubbed “Rojava – northern Syria”, the autonomous, Kurdish-led federation encompasses a more than 250-mile land corridor in northern Syria, south of the Turkish border.
Sihanuk Dibo from Syria’s leading Kurdish faction, the Democratic Union Party, said delegates to the conference “approved” the plan.
“We had a successful experience with the system of canton in the past and this decree of federalism system will help resolve issues in Syria”, he added. “Whole, unified, nonsectarian Syria, that’s the goal”.
“Unilateral moves carry no validity”, the official said.
“The Syrian Kurds are an important component of the Syrian people”, Syria’s Ambassdor to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari, said. They also control a section of the northwestern border in the Afrin area.
“This is a historic step”, said Omar Aloush, a representative of Kobane, one of three Kurdish-controlled enclaves to be covered by the federal system.
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Meanwhile in Moscow, the commander of the Russian Air Force said the withdrawal of the bulk of the Russian forces from Syria should be complete in two to three days.
