Salih Muslim, a leading figure in the Rojava Revolution — which liberated the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) from the former Bashar al Assad dictatorship in 2012 — told Green Left on August 28 that Ahmed al-Sharaa’s Syrian Transitional Government (STG) was retreating from a process to unify the country that it had agreed to earlier this year.
The STG pulled out of talks with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) scheduled to take place in Paris, using the excuse that the DAANES had hosted a unity conference in Hesekê city on August 8 which brought together leaders from various religious and ethnic groups in Syria.
Some 500 representatives of the Kurdish, Arab, Syriac, Assyrian, Turkmen, Armenian and Circassian communities agreed on a common position for a democratic national administration based on pluralism, partnership and equal citizenship in a new Syria.
“What the new regime in Damascus is saying is just an excuse for its unwillingness to carry out the terms of the agreement signed on March 10. They are trying to slide out of this agreement under pressure from Turkey,” Muslim said.
“The conference in Hesekê brought together the many components of the population of Syria. It was the sort of conference that should have been called by any regime [that] is serious about building a new Syria. But [the STG] wouldn’t do it because they refuse to have a dialogue between all the components of Syria, so we have done it.
“They should have been happy about such a conference having taken place — one where all these communities are agreeing to live together in a united, democratic Syria. Instead, they have used it as an excuse to cancel the Paris talks,” he added.
The violent attacks by jihadist militias aligned with the STG on the predominantly Druze communities in Suwayda (As-Sweida) in the south of Syria since July had shattered the confidence of religious and ethnic minorities in the capacity of the STG to peacefully unify the country.
“What is going on in Suwayda shows that this regime cannot accept a democratic state that includes all the components of Syrian society. It does not accept any other ideology or religion other than that of jihadist Islam.
“Because of this, the Alawites, Druze and all the other minorities believe in what we are calling for: a decentralised Syria with local autonomy as the best way for us to live together peacefully in one country.
“What we have in built in Rojava could be a model for all of Syria.”
Muslim said there were also small but increasingly aggressive attacks on the SDF positions by militia groups aligned to the STG and to the remnant of Daesh/Islamic State.
“There are some small clashes east of Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor started by militia groups tied to Turkey. They are trying to break down the March 10 agreement but we have to defend our areas.”
To make matters worse, the STG has announced that it is going ahead with sham “elections” for a People’s Assembly in September.
Suwayda and the third of the Syria protected by the SDF will be left out of these “elections” and where they are held, the elections will not be direct. As the Rojava Information Center has explained, the un-elected STG President Ahmed al-Sharaa gets to personally appoint a third of the People’s Assembly and the remaining two-thirds will be elected by 50 people per seat who will be appointed by the regime.
“These are not elections but nominations of some people who are loyal to the regime,” Muslim told GL.
The DAANES issued a statement on August 24 that called upon the international community and the United Nations not to recognise this sham election.
“All the steps taken since the fall of the Assad regime until today — the National Dialogue Conference, the formation of the Interim Government, the declaration of the constitution, and now the announcement of parliamentary elections in Syria — have contradicted the goals of the Syrian revolution, which called for justice, democracy, equality and freedom for all components of Syria. Syrians have made sacrifices for true citizenship rights, foremost among them the right to free and fair candidacy and elections.
“Yet, we see history repeating itself, as this right is once again stripped away from all Syrians. These elections are neither democratic nor reflective of the will of the Syrian people in any form, but rather a continuation of the marginalisation and exclusion that Syrians have suffered for the past 62 years under Ba’ath rule.
“The conduct of what is called ‘elections’ at this time excludes nearly half of the Syrian people from the process—whether through forced displacement or through systematic policies that prevent the participation of communities and active forces in shaping the country’s future. This very exclusion is clear evidence that what is being presented as elections is nothing more than a formal step that does not meet the requirements of a comprehensive political solution needed by Syrians.”