“The Kurds in Syria add beauty and brilliance to the diversity of the Syrian people. The Kurdish community in Syria has been wronged by the [Bashar al-] Assad regime,” Shaibani said on X in Kurdish.
He stressed that the new Syrian administration is working to ensure that diversity is upheld in the country.
But Damascus has been adamant about rejecting federalism and Kurdish self-rule in the country, with many Syrians and foreign powers worried that the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly an al-Qaeda affiliate, may impose strict Islamic rule on threatened minority groups such as Kurds, Druze, Christians, and Alawites.
Elham Ahmad, foreign relations co-chair of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), commended Shaibani’s remarks, calling them a “place of honor for the Kurds.”
“The Kurds will bring their own color to Syrian society when their rights are guaranteed in the constitution. We will build together a new Syria that is diverse, inclusive, and decentralized,” Ahmad said on X.
Intra-Kurdish unity talks between Kurdish ruling and opposition parties in northeast Syria (Rojava) are also underway to present a united front in Damascus to negotiate with Syrian authorities on the future of the country.
