Syrian Kurds are preparing a plan to declare a federal region in the area they control across northern Syria, saying Wednesday it is a model for a more decentralized government in which all ethnic groups would be represented.
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Officials from the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, announced they’re planning to consolidate the Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria into a single federal region.
The Syrian foreign ministry called it “unconstitutional and worthless”.
There is concern the move could lead to further fragmentation and partition within Syria, with the main opposition National Coalition said the step “confiscates” the will of Syrians.
The US government stated it was opposed to Kurdish self-rule and any autonomous regions in Syria, while the Syrian government warned that the Kurds’ decision had no legal standing.
The border between al-Malikiya in Syria’s Hassakeh province and Fishkhabur in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region closed in the afternoon, said Abdullah Sa’adoun, communications officer for the Syrian Kurdish internal security forces, known as the Asayish.
“We remain committed to the unity and territorial integrity of Syria”, the USA said.
The move is sure to anger Turkey, which views the PYD as a terrorist organisation and the Syrian affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Press TV has interviewed James Jatras, a former US Senate foreign policy analyst in Washington, to discuss a unilateral decision by the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) to establish a federal system in the north.
On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets across opposition strongholds in Syria to mark the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “I see that it can be a real system for all of Syria in the future, something tried on the ground”.
Russia pulled more warplanes out of Syria, a new delivery of humanitarian aid reached northern Aleppo province and United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura named a Russian academic to his team of advisers in a nod to Moscow’s importance in brokering an end to the fighting. According to the statement released after the conference, the federal region will be a part of Syria and an autonomous state.
Kurdish groups in Norther Syria are planning to declare a federal state, their latest step towards self-governance. However, they also control a separate area that is separated from the main territories by about 100 kilometres or 60 miles most of it controlled by the Islamic State.
“After all the blood that has been spilled, Syrians will not accept anything less than decentralization”, Araj said.
The terrorist PYD, the group added, “is no different from the other militias that are assaulting Syrians and their homeland; it is holding the Kurds hostage to accomplish its agenda, just like Daesh does in other parts of the country”.
At Turkey’s request, the PYD was not invited to the first Syria peace talks in January or the second round in March. “Whole, unified, nonsectarian Syria, that’s the goal”, Kirby said, adding that other countries supported that aim as well.
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He said Russian Federation will maintain a strong military presence in the country after a five-and-a-half-month air campaign that has helped turn the tide of the five-year civil war.
