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Syrian Kurds to meet UN officials in New York

Abdul Hakim Bashar, vice-president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, told Kurdistan 24 that he will join the delegation as Vice-President.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2021/09/19 15:32

Abdul Hakim Bashar, vice-president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Kurdistan Syria Syrian opposition Kurdish National Council Ibrahim Biro Abdul Hakim Bashar National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan National Council (KNC) will be part of a delegation from the Syrian opposition that will meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other officials in New York.

Abdul Hakim Bashar, vice-president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, told Kurdistan 24 that he will join the delegation as Vice-President. Ibrahim Biro will also participate as part of the Negotiation Committee of the Syrian opposition.

He said they will discuss the Syrian crisis, the ceasefire and political settlement demanded by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, the Caesar Law and its effects, the Kurdish question in Syria, and the situation in (Turkish-occupied) Afrin and Serekaniye.

He also said that the KNC will have one on one meetings with international actors.

World leaders are participating in the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session scheduled for next Tuesday. The session is expected to mainly focus on the situation in Afghanistan and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths warned that Syria, after more than a decade of war, remains “caught in a downward spiral” and that “the country will continue to be a place of tragedy, so long as the conflict continues.”

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 leading party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

The KNC, which is 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 Democratic Union Party (PYD)

The two parties previously held talks for several months following an initiative by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi in 2020 to resolve their long-standing disputes after Turkey’s cross-border offensive into northern Syria in October 2019.

PDAS Joey Hood spoke in the past week with the leadership of the Kurdish Nat. Council and Kurdish Nat. Unity Parties to reaffirm U.S. support for intra-Kurdish dialogue. He urged all parties to engage directly to build shared solutions to the problems facing people in NE Syria.
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) September 14, 2021

However, since the November 2021 US presidential elections, the talks have been suspended. US officials have recently held separate meetings with both sides and underlined continued support for the intra-Kurdish dialogue.