Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid affirmed Egypt’s stance to support the unity of Syrian territories, stating that any other arrangements should be carried out under the supervision of the UN.
Abu Zeid stressed the importance of Kurdish participation in the Geneva talks and warned of their exclusion.
The three northern Syrian regions agreed on Thursday to establish a self-administrated federation under the name of “The Federal Democratic System of Rojava, Northern Syria”.
The government of Bashar Al-Assad and the Turkish government condemned the Kurdish move saying it could end the UN-backed negotiations.
One day after the Kurdish declaration, several Syrian rebel groups released a statement condemning the declaration and vowed to fight against the fledgling federal union.
The statement described the move as “attempts by groups … which took control of parts of Syrian land to establish their racial, nationalist, and sectarian entities”.
The People’s Protection Units (YPG) succeeded in defeating Islamic militants and regaining control of Northern Syria. Its political arm, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), was excluded from the Geneva peace talks.
The PYD’s media officer in Europe Ibrahim Ibrahim defended the Kurdish decision, saying it too aims to end the five-year conflict.
“The federalisation is a way to end the current war in Syria and to end the current division of Syria … it is not purely Kurdish as they say, but is comprised of Arabs, Assyrians as well as Kurds,” Ibrahim.
Ibrahim added that their exclusion from Geneva was not the principal motivation behind their decision to form a federal union; rather, Ibrahim contended that the union to remedy the “current division in Syria between Qatar, Turkey, Russia and other international players”.
“We are not committed to any results of Geneva talks as we believe that no one there is actually representing the Syrian people … [“Islamic State”] controls large territories; there is no [Free Syrian Army] as they claim,” said Ibrahim.
Commenting on the Egyptian statement, the PYD official praised the Egyptian stance towards the Kurdish issue. “Egypt truly understands the Syrian case, and understands the importance of supporting the minorities in Syria,” he said.
Ibrahim said his party would welcome any consultation with Egypt regarding the Syrian crisis.
“We belong to the Arab region, but the Arab regimes excluded us,” Ibrahim continued asserting that their new federalisation system aims to unite all of Syria on the basis of Syrian nationality rather than on a sectarian basis.
The peace talks are currently taking place in Geneva between the regime and the opposition under the supervision of the United Nations.
UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, appealed to Syrian parties, regional and international stakeholders, and the UN security council to fulfil their responsibilities and to help make these negotiations successful. “If we miss this opportunity, the consequences for the Syrian people and the world are too frightening to contemplate,” he said.
