Politics

Syrian Kurdish-led administration drops legal obstacles to KNC activities

The Self-Administration of North and Eastern Syria on Tuesday removed obstacles for the Kurdish National Council (KNC), which it has often been at odds with, to carry out their political work in northern Syria.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2019/12/17 22:37

middle east Syria Rojava SDF KNC

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Self-Administration of North and Eastern Syria on Tuesday removed obstacles for the Kurdish National Council (KNC), which it has often been at odds with, to carry out their political work in northern Syria.

The step comes after a tweet by Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi the day before in which he said, “Our efforts to build a Kurdish unity in Rojava continue in a positive atmosphere. In the coming days, steps will be taken towards building trust.”

In doing so, he added his voice to other Syrian Kurdish officials in their recent calls for Kurdish unity.

The Interior Body of the Self-Administration announced that, following the initiative launched by the SDF to unite the Kurdish parties and build a partnership between them, it had removed legal obstacles for the Kurdish National Council (KNC) to open its offices in areas under its control. It had previously blocked such offices from operating.

Moreover, cases that that were brought before the administration’s judiciary against various personalities and leaders of the KNC in exile have been dropped.

The Interior Body also announced that nothing should stop the KNC from returning to Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) to exercise their activities in an unrestricted manner.

In addition, a committee was formed to investigate a list of 10 missing individuals submitted by the KNC to the SDF leadership on Sunday.

“We have formed a specialized committee to investigate the file and we will share all the results of the committee’s investigation with the Kurdish National Council and the leadership of SDF as soon as possible,” read a statement.

Tensions between the KNC and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), one of the founders of the Self-Administration, have increased since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, with the latter playing a significant role in the establishment of the self-administration that has ruled northeastern Syria.

The dominant Syrian Kurdish factions, the PYD and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) backed KNC, have not successfully cooperated because agreements they reached in Duhok and Erbil between 2012 and 2014 have still never been effectively implemented.

However, since 2017, relations have generally improved between the Syrian Kurds after ties between Ankara and Erbil deteriorated following the Kurdistan Region’s September 2017 independence referendum. Turkey opposed the vote, despite enjoying robust economic and political relations with Erbil since 2008.

Moreover, when Turkey attacked the Kurdish-majority Syrian city of Afrin in January 2018, a delegation from the Kurdistan Region’s Parliament traveled there during the following month.

The two major rival factions since early November have met to discuss the need for unity after Turkey’s cross-border attack on northern Syria in October. Commander Abdi has also met with the KNC to discuss Kurdish unity.

In an earlier interview, Abdi told Kurdistan 24, “Before anything, the political parties of Rojava must unite, and set their difference aside,” a call that has often been made over several years, but a goal that has remained elusive.

He underlined that all Kurdish parties in other parts of Kurdistan should also unite and hold a national Kurdish congress because “protecting Rojava is a national duty.”

Abdi also asked KDP head Masoud Barzani, over the border in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, to play an active role in bringing together Kurdish political parties in Syria.

Editing by John J. Catherine