Syrian Kurdish party officials meet to discuss unified vision for post-Assad future

QAMISHLI, Syria — Syria’s Kurdish parties hold a conference aimed at presenting a unified vision for the country’s future following the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, a high-ranking participant tells AFP.

Eldar Khalil, an official in the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, says that since Kurds were a major component of the country, they “must present a solution and a project proposal for the future of Syria.”

On the question of federalism, Khalil said it was “one of the proposals on the table.”

More than 400 people, including representatives from major Kurdish parties in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey, take part in the “Unity of the Kurdish Position and Ranks” conference in Qamishli, according to the Kurdish Anha news agency.

The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, which has controlled large swathes of Syria’s northeast since the early years of the country’s civil war, is represented at the gathering, as are groups opposed to it.

Last month, the Kurdish administration struck a deal to integrate into state institutions, with the new Islamist-led leadership seeking to unify the country following the December overthrow of Assad.

The agreement, however, has not prevented the Kurdish administration from criticizing the new authorities, including over the formation of a new government and a recent constitutional declaration that concentrated executive power in the hands of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa during the transition period.