During the 41st UN Human Rights Council Sessions, a fringe meeting was organised by the Geneva Center for Kurdish Human Rights on the latest situation in Northern Syria. 

The lecturer at the University of Geneva, Dr. Mr. Vicken Cheterian, M. Ahmad Omar, a member of the board of the Democratic Autonomous Region of Northern and Western Syria, and Carlo Sommaruga, a lawyer and also a member of the Swiss Federal Parliament delivered speeches. 

The conference, moderated by lawyer Olivier Peter, discussed the current situation in northern Syria and the situation of ISIS detainees.

Referring to the deaths and displacement of the civil war in Syria, Cheterian said that while addressing the situation here, it is necessary to go beyond the classical approaches in terms of systemic and political institutions. Cheterian said that the political, cultural and ethnic structure of the Middle East as a whole is contrary to the centralized nation-state system, and said that if a solution is to be found here, it should go beyond it.

Stating that the current “de facto” autonomous region is important as it is the implementation of a new system in this respect, Cheterian said: “This actual situation exists in the region where Kurds have been living since 2011. But it should be remembered that the same Kurds could not speak, receive education in their own language and did not have an identity. This changed with the war in Syria. The Kurds actually established an autonomous region. There is no return way back. But this is what is not recognized neither by Turkey nor by the Syrian regime."

Underlining that the nation-state structure should be overcome in Syria, Cheterian stated that all institutions should be built according to a new system from the beginning.

Ahmad Omar, a member of the executive board of the Democratic Autonomous Region of Northern and Western Syria, talked about the institutional functioning of the region.

He said that they try to establish a single model of democratic government and tha it is precisely this new model that is being targeting by Turkey."

Omar said that international institutions, especially the UN, should not remain silent against the attacks of the Turkish state.

Swiss Federal Parliament MP Carlo Sommoruga recalled the Kurds' struggle against ISIS, and said that the Kurds were left alone by western countries, including Switzerland.

Sommaruga said: “The Kurds were left alone. However, Western countries, especially Switzerland, should be the mediators in the acceptance of the system in Rojava by Syria. Because the situation in Syria is not the same as in Iraq. The Iraqi constitution permits an autonomous structure. But not Syria. But Switzerland can be the mediator between the Kurds and the central state in terms of Syria's recognition of this structure."