Ilham Ahmed: Situation in Idlib is complex, liberation of Afrin is SDF's priority

SIDO IBO –KELTHOMA ALI
QAMISHLO

The 3rd conference of Lawyers Union in al-Jazeera canton held at the Workers' Union Center in Rumailan town of Dêrik area will continue under the slogan "Protecting Social Gains and Values Guarantees the Building of a Decentralized and Democratic Syria" in the presence of guests from north of Syria and representatives of the unions of Afrin, the Euphrates and the liberated areas as well as representatives of Democratic Autonomous Administrations (DAA), the Syria Democratic Council(MSD), the Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM), Kongra Star and the civil institutions.

Ilham Ahmed spoke during the conference about the latest political and military developments on the Syrian arena.

"Raising the society’s awareness is the lawyers and jurists' duty"

She said, "The external interventions that happen to the communities are just a state of lacking the rights. Any attack on a people is considered a violation of their rights."

Therefore, our cause is a legal cause, whether it is the Kurdish people or the Syrian people. Getting the society to a stage where it promotes to the legal status is one of the tasks of jurists and politicians, and educating the community is one of the basic tasks of the jurists.

"The situation in Idlib is complex, and there are negotiations among the guarantors of Astana amid tension among the armed factions"

"Seven years have passed on the Syrian crisis and it is about to be ended, but the battle is still going within the possibility of its continuation for months or other years. The main reason for the continuation of the conflict is the dispersion of the Syrian structure which is suffering from cases of migration, killing and destroying."

Ilham explained that Idlib is considered a hot zone as negotiations about it are ongoing and added, "The Syrian regime seeks to control the entire territory of Syria, and the opposition related to Turkey opposes to the withdrawal, but it may surrender in the event of agreements between Turkey and the guarantors of the Syrian crisis; Russia and Iran. There are negotiations concentrated on how to remove the armed factions; Hayet Tahrir al-Sham (Jabhet al-Nusra) that is supported by Turkey directly from Idlib which control the majority of the area, so Turkey negotiates directly instead of Jabhet al-Nusra with Russia and the Syrian regime, and there is no clarity about the mechanism of taking out those factions from Idlib. The talk is running about neutralizing the center of the city from the military operations that will erupt in the region, while it will include the countryside.

"Turkey may launch a new military operation in Aleppo countryside"

Ilham said, "The start of this battle will have implications on the whole of Syria, where there is still Turkish interest in Aleppo, and there is a possibility that Turkey will conduct military operations in the countryside of Aleppo with great interest in the subject of Afrin as well. The factions in Afrin are radical and Islamic, but some European countries see them as moderate opposition."

"Turkey is ready to abandon all areas of influence in Syria in order to hit the democratic project"

Ilham pointed out that Turkey is ready to abandon anything in order to obstruct the democratic system in Syria, pointing out that Turkey is ready to lose all areas under its control in order to prevent the establishment of a democratic system in the area.

"Liberating Afrin is SDF's priority"

Ilham Ahmed spoke about the rumors published by some parties about the participation of SDF alongside the forces of the regime in the battle of Idlib, and continued, "Liberating Afrin is one of the priorities of SDF. The Kurdish Afrin city received large numbers of displaced Syrians fleeing the battles. Afrin used to be a secular and democratic city, and today it has been attacked by the Turkish occupation, and now the residents of Afrin are living in the tents, but they are waiting for the liberation of their city.”

She explained that Afrin’s file is important and they work to liberate it, whether through diplomatic or military ways, and said, "Afrin will not remain occupied by Turkey and its mercenaries."

"We are ready to launch a Syrian-Syrian dialogue"

Ilham Ahmed said that they are ready to launch a Syrian-Syrian dialogue, and believe that the solution lies inside Syria. "All meetings held in Geneva and Astana will fail as they are held in order to prolong the Syrian crisis. Astana resulted in the formation of De-escalation zones in order to facilitate the control of the regime forces on the areas out of its control under the auspices of Turkey."

She added, "We believe that if the solution came from the Syrian society, it will be a valid solution. If it is imposed from outside, it will not serve the Syrian society, so we as Syrians are only capable of finding a political solution to the crisis. Unfortunately, the Syrian regime still believes that the Syrian crisis is not an internal crisis."

Ilham said that if the Syrian regime is convinced that the Syrian crisis is an internal crisis, then we can overcome the crisis.

She pointed out that the meeting that took place between the two parties; the Syrian north delegation and the regime came on the basis of exchanging ideas for the start of the talks. "We may begin discussions in the coming days."

Ilham Ahmed concluded saying that the fundamental solution to the Syrian crisis would be by the acceptance of the Democratic Autonomous Administration and the decentralized system in the Syrian areas.

A.H

ANHA