Syria
Salih Muslim, a senior member of Rojava’s Kurdish ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD). File photo: Rohani TV
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Salih Muslim, a senior member of Rojava’s Kurdish ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Wednesday that there would be no integration into the Syrian state institutions without democratization.
In an interview with Ronahi TV, a media outlet affiliated with the Kurdish administration in Rojava, Muslim said that "now there is assimilation and there is integration. We want to integrate into Syria on the basis of democracy."
Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) chief Mazloum Abdi, signed a landmark deal with Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in March that seeks to integrate all civil and military institutions in Rojava into the Syrian state apparatus.
"If one of the two sides does not believe in democracy, you cannot achieve integration with it," Muslim said.
The SDF is the de facto army of Rojava, the PYD ruling region. The force has been the main ally of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) on the ground in Syria over the past decade.
Reflecting on the historic White House meeting between Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump on Monday, Muslim described it as "a new and positive step for the solution of the Syrian crisis.”
Muslim said that Turkey, having been absent from the preparation and signing of the March agreement, initially sought to push for its “collapse.”
"The most striking thing is that the Turkish foreign minister was also there. He also participated in the meeting," Muslim said, referring to Hakan Fidan, adding they “can now say that Turkey has accepted the March agreement,” and said, "With this agreement, many problems will be resolved."
Following the white house meeting, Syria officially became the 90th member of the United States-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS).
Muslim stressed that the fight against terrorism remains a priority in the country. “For the safety of Syria, the main issue is the fight against terrorism. While ISIS is the main focus, there are many groups involved,” he said.
Regarding the discussions with the new Syrian administration, Muslim said talks would continue upon Sharaa’s return to Damascus, with a comprehensive meeting expected in the coming weeks involving the SDF, US officials, and coalition representatives.
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