The Syrian Democratic Council (MSD) is holding its 8th workshop in the northern Syrian city of Qamishlo. The workshop taking place in the Zana Hall is attended by 130 people, including representatives of tribes, Autonomous Administration and political parties, intellectuals, lawyers, activists and representatives of the Syrian Kurdish National Council (ENKS).

"A PROCESS IN CRISIS"

MSD Executive Board co-chair Ilham Ehmed put forward evaluations following the opening speech and talked about the negotiations with the Damascus government and the attempts to solve the Syrian crisis.

Stating that the Syrian peoples and the political situation in the country have turned into a crisis due to the increasing intervention of regional and international powers, Ilham said, “The reason for this situation is the forces discussing the Syrian crisis among themselves. We have seen that the Astana and Geneva meetings did not bring any positive results. Because these meetings were held without real representatives of Syria. Meetings like Astana led to demographic change. Half of the Syrian people had to migrate, thousands of people lost their lives. Due to the clashes between the Syrian regime and the opposition, Syria turned into a battle ground. Now we have more difficult processes ahead of us”.

"PERSISTENCE OF DAMASCUS GOVERNMENT"

Ehmed pointed out that; "The Syrian Revolution started with peaceful and actions demanding freedom, but when the opposition turned into armed groups serving the interests of foreign powers, it started not to serve the Syrian people."

Ilham Ehmed continued as follows: “The Damascus regime sees itself as the ancient owner of Syria. For this reason, it tries to convince the IDPs and bring them back to their regions. This is a special war waged by the government of Damascus. When we look at the Deir ez-Zor incidents, we can see this special war of Damascus. While the Damascus government should resolve the Syrian crisis and establish peace and security in the region, it is doing the opposite. It is trying to cause strife between Kurds and Arabs. The Damascus government is interrupting the solution attempts to the Syrian crisis.”

Stating that the negotiations between the Damascus government and the Autonomous Administration did not yield any results, Ehmed underlined that although Russia assumed the role of guarantor in the negotiations, no results have been obtained.

KURDISH POLITICAL FORCES IN NEGOTIATIONS

Drawing attention to the talks between Kurdish political forces, Ehmed said: "With the initiation of negotiations among Kurdish parties, claims have been made that the talks would serve to divide Syria, the Kurds would benefit from the country's wealth, and the Arabs would be deprived. These claims are unfounded. The talks in question are important to unify Syria, contrary to what is claimed.”

The workshop continues with the evaluations of the participants followed by the speech of MSD Executive Board Co-Chair Ilham Ehmed.