From April 28 to 30, 2017, the first Dialogue Workshop of the Kurdish National Council in Syria (KNC) with other factions of the Syrian opposition took place in Istanbul. Besides representatives of the KNC, many renowned and high-ranking political representatives of the arabic opposition as well as of Assyrian and Turkmen organisations participated. Additionally, deputies of the German, French, British, Danish and Canadian representations in Istanbul attended the welcome dinner on April 28.
Once again, Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Belser, expert on federalism and professor for comparative constitutional and administrative law at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and Dr. Soeren Keil, political scientist with a focus on international relations and political post-conflict reconstruction at the Canterbury Christ Church University in Great Britain, hold the workshop.
The first Dialogue Workshop focussed on the question, which forms of power sharing would be applicable in a future Syria. The participants discussed various concepts – from (extended) administrative decentralisation to political decentralisation to federalism. By means of examples of diverse countries – including the USA, Canada, India, Belgium and Switzerland – the invited experts illustrated the manifold possibilities to share decision-making power between the central, regional and communal level. All parties involved agreed, that a future, democratic Syria needs to include a distribution of competencies to different levels – and that a model customised to Syria’s specific situation needs to be developed.
This first Dialogue Workshop already showed the willingness of all participants involved to resolve complex issues in a mutual dialogue, and to find solutions doing justice to all Syrians. Several participants requested to hold a follow-up workshop as soon as possible. During the discussions, the question of how to guarantee the protection of minority rights and how to meet the needs of diverse minority groups within a decentralised system emerged as a potential next topic.
Participants
Abde, Bese
-
Member of the central committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party – Syria (PDK-S)
-
Lawyer
Al-Atassi, Suhair
-
Activist; Co-founder of the Syrian Revolution General Commission
-
Former vice-president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Etilaf)
-
Chairwoman of the Assistance Coordination Unit
Al Hasan, Reyad
-
Secretary of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Etilaf)
-
Co-founder of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Etilaf)
-
Co-founder of the Syrian National Council
Alhasan, Ziya
-
Member of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces
-
Co-founder of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly and its vice-president from 2016 to 2017
Alhariri, Naser
-
Member of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC)
-
Chairman of the negotiations delegation of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Etilaf)
-
Participation in Geneva IV and V
Almeslet, Salem
-
Member of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) since its foundation until today
-
former Member of the Syrian National Council’s Executive Bureau (2011 – 2012)
Almasalmah, Samira
-
Journalist for Alhayat and Arabi Aljadeed
-
Former chief editor at the state-owned daily newspaper Tashreen (2008-2011) and the Syrian magazine Watan (2005-2008)
-
Former vice-president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (2016)
Belser, Prof. Dr. Eva Maria
-
Specialist in Constitutional and Administrative Law
-
Chair for Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Fribourg
-
UNESCO Chair in Human Rights and Democracy
-
Co-Director of the Institute of Federalism at the University of Fribourg (CH)
Biro, Ibrahim
-
President of the Kurdish National Council in Syria
-
President of the Kurdish Union Party in Syria (Yekîtî)
Bittermann, Julia
-
Head of the “Capacity Building: KNC” project office
Al Shamali, Muhammad
-
Member of the opposition’s delegation within the High Negotiations Committee
-
Representative of the Syrian Turkmen Council within the political committee of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Etilaf)
-
Former vice-president of the Syrian Turkmen Council
-
Former chairman of the Sultan Murat Division’s politburo
Dawud, Niʿmat
-
Chairman of the Kurdish Democratic Equality Party in Syria
-
Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Kurdish National Council in Syria
-
Member of the Kurdish delegation‘s Advisory Committee at Geneva V
Egid Sadoon, Hawas
-
Member of the Advisory Committee to the High Negotiations Committee (HNC)
-
Representative of the Kurdish National Council within the political committee of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Etilaf)
-
Member of the Executive Bureau of the Kurdish Reform Movement – Syria
Hajo, Kamiran
-
President of the Foreign Committee of the Kurdish National Council in Syria
-
Vice-President of the Damascus Declaration
-
Member of the politburo of the Kurdistan Democratic Party – Syria (KDP-S)
Hajo, Siamend
-
President of the Kurdish Future Movement in Syria
-
Member of the KNC’s Foreign Committee
-
Board Member of the European Centre for Kurdish Studies
Jamous, Bader
-
Co-founder and secretary general of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Etilaf)memmemand member of its politburo
-
Co-founder of the Syrian National Council and former member of its secretary general
Keil, Dr. Sören
-
Specialist in Politics and International Relations and institutional design in post-war societies
-
Researcher and Lecturer at the Canterbury Christ Church University (GB)
-
Advisor for governments and non-governmental organisations, companies and think tanks
Omar, Jiyan
-
Translator for the “Capacity Building: KNC” project office
Osso, Suleiman
-
Member of the politburo of the Kurdish Union Party in Syria (Yekîtî)
-
Participant at the KNC’s workshop on “Visions for a future Syria – Federalism, the Kurdish region and humanitarian law” in 2016
Savelsberg, Eva
-
Chairwoman of the European Centre for Kurdish Studies
Seif, Reyad
-
Newly elected president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Etilaf)
-
Member of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC)
-
Board member of the “National Committee for Human Rights“
Shamsi, Major Iyad Ahmad
-
Member of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC)
-
Participation in Geneva III, IV and V
Sino, Mustafa
-
Member of the politburo of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria (el‑Partî)
-
Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Kurdish National Council in Syria
Stefo, Abdul Ahad
-
Assyrian representative in the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)
-
Co-founder of the European-Assyrian Institute (INASEU)
- Former President of the Assyrian Democratic Organization’s (ADO) European section
-
Co-founder and vice-president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, and member of the oppositional delegation
Yusuf, Faysal
-
Chairman of the Kurdish Reform Movement – Syria
-
Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Kurdish National Council in Syria
Capacity Building: Kurdish National Council in Syria
Berlin, May 2017