ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A senior official from the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) said on Thursday that they plan to preserve the enclave’s current status while engaging more actively in Syria’s political process, despite the new government’s rejection of federalism.
“Our current plan is to preserve what exists, and we will try to be more involved within Syria and participate in every process,” Elham Ahmad, co-chair of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s (DAANES) foreign relations said during a panel at the Sulaimani Forum when asked about their plan if Syria’s interim government opposes federalism.
The interim government’s officials and commanders have ruled out federalism.
The Kurdish official warned that centralized systems have historically led to structural crises in diverse societies like Syria.
“We see that strictly centralized systems do not solve problems but deepen them,” she said. “Syria must not return to [how it was] before 2011. It must be decentralized and give the rights of all Syrian components.”
Her remarks come weeks after a deal was reached between interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) chief Mazloum Abdi to integrate Rojava’s civil and military institutions into the Syrian state.
The SDF is the de facto army of Rojava.
Ahmed called the agreement a “historic point” which dispels accusations that the Kurdish administration seeks partition or separatism.
“We have always been accused of [wanting to cause] division and separation, so this agreement has put those accusations to rest,” she said. “We are now in the phase of forming dialogue committees to discuss the bond of the agreement, how to implement it, and its mechanism.”
Ahmed confirmed that “many understandings” had also been reached regarding the strategic Tishreen Dam and Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh in northern Aleppo which had long been under SDF control.
This follows a 14-point agreement signed in early April that includes a prisoner swap and outlines joint security oversight in Aleppo.
As part of the broader agreement, Damascus-aligned forces and the SDF on Sunday began jointly managing security of the neighborhoods.
The dam became the target of intensified attacks by Turkish-backed militia groups following the ouster of the former regime.
Rojava’s Ahmed reiterated that the Kurdish administration demands participation in drafting Syria’s new constitution.
“What is happening now is that Syria’s future is being specified by one side,” she said. “We see ourselves as important and serious partners in the process of rebuilding Syria.”
Sharaa signed a 53-article interim constitutional declaration in March, criticized by minority communities for reinforcing authoritarianism and religious exclusion. It preserves Syria’s name as the “Syrian Arab Republic,” makes Arabic the sole official language, and stipulates Islamic jurisprudence as a primary source of legislation. It also requires that the president be Muslim.
The declaration has drawn backlash from various groups, including Syria’s Druze community. Their spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari, who in March called the government “extremist in every sense of the word.”
At the Sulaimani panel, Ahmed noted that many Syrians - including Druze, Alawites, Christians, and a significant secular segment of the Sunni Arab population - reject centralism. “Most in Syria demand decentralization,” she said.
Druze military and political forces in Suwayda have refused to disband and repeatedly called for decentralization. Bahaa al-Jamal, the Druze commander in Suwayda, told Rudaw in March that the declaration is “not accepted” and that the community “ought to have been included” in the process. He added that the Druze will only recognize Syria’s president “through fair elections.”
In March, Rojava’s ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the opposition Kurdish National Council (ENKS) agreed on a joint list of demands, including federalism.
“The unification of the Kurdish stance is the starting point,” said Hoshyar Zebari, a senior official from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), who voiced support for the demands.
The KDP, led by Masoud Barzani, has maintained ties with both ENKS and the SDF. In January, Barzani met publicly with Abdi in Erbil, followed by talks between Abdi and ENKS that led to a plan to send a united Kurdish delegation to Damascus.
Peter Galbraith, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and fellow panelist, highlighted Syria’s vast social and ideological divisions and argued that federalism offers the best path forward.
“How do you reconcile a part of Syria, northeast Syria, which has its own political system, strict gender equality... with one in Idlib, which is Islamist?” he asked. “Federalism in Syria is likely to keep Syria together.”
The Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), whose leaders rule Syria, was formed from factions previously affiliated with al-Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIS). HTS leader Sharaa has attempted to rebrand, but international critics point to extremist ties. Some members of the newly formed cabinet in Damascus - such as Interior Minister Anas Khattab - were designated as terrorists by the US and the UN in the early years after the civil war in 2011.
Prior to ousting the former regime, the HTS had long controlled Idlib in northwestern Syria.
Galbraith stressed that around 40 percent of Syria’s population is not Sunni Arab, and even among Sunni Arabs, many are secular, echoing claims made earlier by Ahmed.
“The idea that one particular ideology coming out of Idlib led by somebody who used to be ISIS and used to be al-Qaeda could somehow control Syria, is something that is not in the interest of the people of Syria and frankly not in the interest of the rest of the world,” he said
Galbraith proposed elections based on proportional representation as a way to ensure diverse representation and inclusivity across Syria’s fractured landscape.
“We’re hoping to reach deeper understandings regarding the constitutional process, the political process, and the process of rebuilding Syria anew,” Ahmed said during the discussion.
