ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Around 400 delegates have arrived in Qamishli, northeast Syria (Rojava) to attend the first Kurdish national conference aimed at bolstering Kurdish unity in Syria. Representatives from parties in Syria, Kurdistan Region, and Turkey are attending the rare pan-Kurdish gathering.
The Kurdish Unity and Consensus in Western Kurdistan Conference is the official name of the event that required months of planning and negotiations is finally taking place. The primary goal is to create a unified front to strengthen the Kurdish position in discussions with the new Syrian government. It brings together Rojava’s two main feuding political groups - the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the main opposition Kurdish National Council (ENKS/KNC) - after over a decade of on-and-off talks between them.
The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December and the rapid changes in Syria accelerated Kurdish efforts for a united stance as the country navigates a transitional period and Western countries, particularly the US and France, seek a stronger Kurdish position in Syria.
Luqman Ehme, head of media affairs for the conference, told Rudaw’s Nalin Hassan on Saturday that nearly 400 delegates from Syria and representatives of Kurdish political parties based in the Kurdistan Region and southeast Turkey have arrived in Qamishli to attend the event.
The conference began at 10 am local time and is scheduled to last four hours.
The two recognized flags adopted by Kurdish entities were both raised - the Kurdistan flag featuring a yellow sun on stripes of red, green and white, and the tricolor of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM), an umbrella group founded in Rojava more than a decade ago. There have, at times, been disputes over which of the two flags represent the Kurdish people.
The Kurdish national anthem, Ey Reqib (Oh Enemy), was sung. There was also a moment of silence for Kurdish victims of conflicts.
SDF chief Abdi attended and delivered a speech.
A delegation from the Turkey-based pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) arrived in Qamishli earlier this week.
The visit of members of the Turkish parliament to Rojava is rare, but was made possible because of recent developments. Turkey has carried out several military campaigns against the SDF in the last decade, claiming they are linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and therefore a national security threat. The tensions have dramatically dropped in recent weeks as Rojava and Damascus, with the endorsement of Ankara, have made progress on their agreement to integrate the SDF into the national Syrian security forces. The Turkish state has also begun a new peace process with the PKK.
The Kurdistan Region has also sent delegates to Qamishli. Hamid Darbandi is representing Masoud Barzani, leader of Kurdistan Region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Salar Sarhad Khalifa, a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leadership member, shared some photos of himself and other PUK members posing for a photo with Abdi.
“The PUK delegation reiterated the party’s support for bolstering the unity and common stance of Kurds in Western Kurdistan [Rojava],” he said.
No one from western Iran (Rojhelat) will attend the conference but a speech will be read on their behalf, according to Ehme, who did not say which Iran-based political party prepared the text.
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