“Such gatherings show without any doubt the treason of its organizers regardless of their political, ethnic, or racial affiliations,” read a statement published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates late on May 3.
The meeting in question brought representatives of some 70 Syrian Arab clans and tribes to the town of Ain Issa at the invitation of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the Kurdish-led administration of the autonomous region, to discuss maintaining their united front now that the Islamic State (ISIS) is territorially defeated.
Kurds and Arabs formed a tenuous alliance under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and they received military support from the US-led coalition against ISIS. With the end of the ISIS so-called caliphate, cracks have formed in the relationship. The SDC put on the Ain Issa forum in order to shore up ties and strengthen their hand in political negotiations about the future of Syria.
Individual tribal leaders and the SDC have separately opened the door to talks with Damascus, though they have made little progress. The SDC wants to preserve a measure of its autonomy and its armed forces.
The organizers of the forum “are pursuing delusions that have been proven throughout history to be impossible to realize,” said the Foreign Ministry.
The final statement of the forum called for military and political unity, and condemned violence between Syrians.
The Foreign Ministry accused the United States of being secretly behind the meeting and called on Western nations backing the northern Syria administration to respect Syria’s sovereignty.
The SDC and SDF control a third of the country, including major urban centres like Raqqa and Qamishli, oil fields of Deir ez-Zor, national infrastructure like Tishreen Dam, and agricultural lands of Hasakah.
Officials in Damascus have said they can envision reaching a deal with the Kurdish-led administration, which the Kurds acknowledge is an “inevitable” finality.
Defence Minister Ali Abdullah Ayyoub said in March that one way or another, all Syrian territory will be back under Damascus’ rule eventually. “The Syrian state will regain full control over all of its geography sooner or later, whether through reconciliation or military force,” he said.
