Memorandum of understanding between MSD and Popular Will Party

During an ongoing series of talks in Russian capital Moscow, the Syrian Democratic Council reached an understanding with the Popular Will Party for a political solution in Syria.

A delegation of the Syrian Democratic Council (MSD or SDC) has arrived in Russia on Friday for talks. The members of the delegation are Ilham Ehmed, the co-chair of the Executive Committee, her deputy Hikmet Hebîb, Senherib Barsum of the Syriac Union Party and the MSD representative in Egypt, Sihanok Dibo.

MSD Executive Committee co-chair Ilham Ehmed and the Popular Will Party leader Kadri Cemil held a press conference in Moscow on Monday, after which they signed a memorandum of understanding for a political solution in Syria.

Kadri Cemil pointed out that the memorandum contains significant points for solution for Syria.

Ilham Ehmed said; “We hope that all the parties in Syria give priority to a political solution rather than a military solution. It is time to end disagreements and war, and to pave the way for the return of those displaced and the release of prisoners.”

The MSD declaration on the memorandum signed on Monday includes the following:

“The current reality and the crisis that Syria is going through in its tenth year confirms that it is a structural crisis, the complexities of external intervention and betting on it, are added to it and that all security and military options were doomed to failure. In the face of this tragic reality and the suffering that Syrians are experiencing such as killing, arresting, kidnapping, displacement and miserable living conditions, and in the face of the war of attrition that destroyed the infrastructure of society, it has become imperative that all democratic national forces move to joint action to stop this tragedy and this destruction. Based on historical responsibility towards the catastrophic conditions that the region and our country, Syria, are going through, and for the sake of achieving radical democratic, political, socio-economic and comprehensive change; The Popular Will Party and the Syrian Democratic Council “SDC”, based on recent bilateral meetings, as well as previous intellectual and practical intersections, have reached an understanding on basic points:

Firstly: The new Syria is a united Syria, in land and people. It is a democratic state that achieves equal citizenship and social justice, it is proud of all its components (Arabs, Assyrians, Syriacs, Kurds, Armenians, Turkmen, Circassians). Syria sees in its multiplicity of identities a rich factor that strengthens its unity and social fabric. Its constitution is democratic, achieving an advanced formula for the relationship between decentralization, which guarantees people to exercise their direct authority in the regions, achieve self-sufficiency, equitable distribution of wealth and development throughout the country, and centralization in basic affairs (foreign affairs, defense, economy).

Secondly: The political solution is the only way out of the Syrian crisis, it is based on the sovereignty of its people with all their components and their right to self-determination, through dialogue. In this context, the two parties support and work to fully implement of Resolution 2254, including the implementation of Geneva Declaration and inclusion of other opposition platforms in Syrian political process, including the Syrian Democratic Council, as this resolution is a tool to enforce the right of the Syrian people to regain undiminished Syrian sovereignty, and work to end all sanctions and forms of siege imposed on the Syrian people, the politicization of humanitarian aid, ending all occupations and forms of external intervention and their various holders, leading to departure of all foreign forces from Syrian territory.

Thirdly: The hoped-for state of equal citizenship in Syria affirms Syrian societal diversity, and commitment to finding a just, democratic solution to the Kurdish issue in Syria in accordance with international covenants and the constitutional recognition of their rights, the national rights of Assyrians and all Syrian components within Syria’s unity and territorial sovereignty.

Fourthly: The Autonomous Administration of north and east Syria is an objective necessity and a societal need related to conditions of the country and the needs of the region that have been produced by the current crisis. It is important to benefit from the experience of the Autonomous Administration, positively and negatively, as a form of people’s authority in the regions, which should be developed at general national level, and within the framework of consensus among Syrians, in a way that strengthens the unity of Syrian territories, the sovereignty of its state and its general administrative system.

Fifthly: The Syrian army is the general national institution in which carrying of weapons is limited and does not interfere with politics. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have seriously contributed to the war on terror and are still working to promote coexistence; should be involved within this institution on basis of formats and mechanisms to be agreed upon.

Accordingly; The two parties agreed to enhance communication and coordination at general political level and a direct action; both of them stress the need for joint action to ensure the participation of the Syrian Democratic Council in the political process in all its details, on top of which is in the Syrian Constitutional Committee.”

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