First Dialogue Workshop of the Kurdish National Council in Syria with other representatives of the opposition receives positive response

The interest in the experts' input was great amongst the participants

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. 

Group work: (f.l.t.r.) Hewas Egid Sadoon, Faysal Yusuf, Ziad Alhasan, Reyad Alhasan

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. 

In plenary and in group work, active exchange of ideas was paramount. F.l.t.r.: Iyad Shamsi, Ibrahim Biro, Ziad Alhasan, Mustafa Sino

 

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. 

Riad Seif, newly elected president of the Syrian National Coalition Of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces and member of the High Negotiation Committee, noted that even after decades of experience he was able to acquire new understanding in this workshop

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. 

 

Gruppenarbeit: Muhammad Alshamali, Riad Seif (Foreground, f.l.t.r.), Suleiman Osso, Bese Abde, Samira Almsalmah, Niʿmat Dawud (Background, f.l.t.r.)
 

Around one table: Members of the KNC and representatives of other oppositional factions working on the topic. Reyad Alhasan, Salem Almuslet, Siamend Hajo, Kamiran Hajo, Faysal Yusuf, Muhammad Alshamali and Riad Seif (f.l., clockwise)
F.l.t.r.: Ibrahim Biro, Naser Alhariri, Suhair Alatassi
Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Belser explaining international examples of power sharing and decentralisation
During group work: (f.l.t.r.) Niʿmat Dawud with Abdelahad Stepho
Noting the outcome of discussions

 

 

 

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