Syrian opposition re-elects Kurd as vice-president

The Turkish-backed Syrian opposition again on Saturday re-elected Kurdish politician Abdul Hakim Bashar as its vice-president, a post he has held since 2014. Other incumbents as well held on to key posts.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The Turkish-backed Syrian opposition again on Saturday re-elected Kurdish politician Abdul Hakim Bashar as its vice-president, a post he has held since 2014. Other incumbents as well held on to key posts.

The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, also known as Etilaf, said on its website that the Syrian Opposition Coalition’s General Assembly had elected Nasr Al-Hariri to succeed outgoing President Anas Abdah.

“The General Assembly also elected Oqab Yahya, Abdel-Hakim Bashar, and Ruba Habboush as vice-presidents as well as Abdelbaset Abdullatif as Secretary-General. It also elected 19 new members of the political committee,” read an announcement on the site.

Bashar was born in 1958 in the town of Amuda in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah. He studied at Damascus University, graduating as a pediatrician. He later served as secretary for the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDP-S) from 2007 until April 2014, when he took his current position. Currently, he is still a member of the political bureau of the KDP-S.

Bashar was also the co-founder and former president of the Kurdish National Council (KNC), formed in October 2011 with support from Masoud Barzani, the head of the neighboring Kurdistan Region’s ruling party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

The KNC, as part of the Turkey-based Syrian Arab opposition, has been in several political disputes with the local administration of Syria’s Kurdish-held northern areas, led by the PYD (Democratic Union Party). 

However, the PYD and the KNC renewed negotiations in early November as a result of an initiative by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi to resolve longstanding disputes after Turkey’s cross-border offensive into northern Syria in October 2019.

As a result, on June 17, the KNC reached an initial understanding and completed the first phase of Kurdish Unity talks. They agreed to continue based on a 2014 Duhok agreement between the parties. 

Read More: Syrian Kurdish parties reach initial unity agreement 

Although the KNC is part of the Turkish-backed opposition, it has nevertheless condemned human rights violations in Afrin and opposed the Turkish attack on the Kurdish-majority area in 2018. 

Read More: Kurdish opposition official says Turkey responsible for crimes in Afrin 

It also opposed the October 2019 military operation against the Syrian Kurdish forces in the regions of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain (Serikaniye). However, it refused to leave the Turkish-backed opposition that supported the Turkish attack.

The PYD did not demand the KNC to leave the Syrian opposition during the Kurdish unity talks.

While the PYD was excluded from the Western-backed Geneva and Russian-backed Astana peace talks, the KNC continue to participate as part of the political coalition.

Editing by John J. Catherine