VIDEO: Rojava Kurds to announce federalism in northern Syria

RMELAN, Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdistan24) - A conference starting on Saturday in Syria's Kurdish-held northeastern town of Rmelan is to announce federalism which was voted six months ago by Syria's Kurds.

The conference was attended by all spectra of Syria's mainly-Kurdish northeastern areas (Rojava).

Officials of Rojava self-rule administration said the federal system that will unite the three cantons depends on geographic location, not ethnicity.

Kurdish official in northern Syria said that federalism has gained the support of the world superpowers over the past six months.

Speaking to Kurdistan24, Abdulkarim Omar, head of Foreign Relations in Jazira canton, said the opening of diplomatic missions for Rojava in Moscow and many other European countries prove the international community supports federalism in Northern Syria.

"In a few weeks, a diplomatic mission for Rojava will open in Washington as well," he said.

"We are working on making arrangements for opening a diplomatic mission in London too," Omar added.

Hadiya Yousef, a Syrian Kurdish official leading the establishment of the federal project told Reuters a few months ago that the project is not confined to the Kurdish areas only.

"After the liberation of many areas, it requires us to go to a wider and more comprehensive system that can embrace all the developments in the area, that will also give rights to all the groups to represent themselves and to form their own administrations."

However, those opposing the self-rule administration claim that the federalism brokered by PYD-led council (TEV-DEM) is unrealistic.

Representatives of Syria's Kurdish National Council (ENKS), PYD's opposition, state that the proposed federalism is not genuine because the Syrian government security forces are still in the Kurdish areas.

Additionally, ENKS members argue that the TEV-DEM brokered federalism is not backed by any regional or international political entity.

"The support offered by the US to the self-rule administration in Rojava is only in the military domain," said Abdul Rahman Abtan, an ENKS representative in Rojava.

On March 17, Syria's Kurdish-controlled northern regions voted to declare a federal system after being excluded from international peace negotiations in Geneva seeking to resolve Syria's civil war.

(Additional reporting by Kurdistan24 correspondent Heybar Othman in Rmelan)