There have been serious setbacks to hopes for a unified post-Bashar al Assad dictatorship raised by the March 10 agreement signed by Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Mohammad al-Jolani (Ahmed Al-Sharaa), leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — who has declared himself the president of Syria’s transitional government. First, was the unilateral declaration of an interim draft constitution by Jolani that gives himself dictatorial powers. This was followed by more massacres in the coastal region and in Kobani, in north-east Syria (Rojava).
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 4711 civilians have been killed in the 100 days since the fall of the Assad regime, including 1805 extrajudicial executions.
The massacre of a family of 10 in Kobani on March 17 was carried out by a Turkish armed drone.
Salih Muslim, a prominent Rojava revolutionary leader and foreign affairs spokesperson of the Presidential Council of the Democratic Union Party, spoke to Green Left’s Peter Boyle about the serious setbacks to building a new Syria.
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What do you believe is the explanation for the signing of the bad draft interim constitution for a new Syria by Jolani so soon after making the eight-point agreement with SDF commander about Kurds becoming partners in a new Syria?
We are still trying to find out exactly what is going on, but I believe that Mr Jolani is trying to satisfy all [the factions] behind him, and these include extremist groups. So, he is not free to decide everything because he is under pressure from them.
He is trying to find a temporary solution in the coastal area and after he signed the agreement with the SDF, those extremist groups in the coastal areas may have forced him to make this temporary constitution.
[Jolani] is caught between satisfying his friends sharing government with him and dealing with the actual situation on the ground.
What is happening in the coastal areas is not acceptable, so he has to start taking steps in line with the eight-point agreement in order to calm down the situation.
Do you see the hand of foreign states in Jolani’s declaration of the interim constitution?
Yes. He is affected by pressure from all the hegemonic powers that brought him from Idlib to Damascus, especially from Turkey. He doesn’t know how to satisfy all of these powers.
All the institutions of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria have rejected the draft constitution, so is there a road back to the partnership between the Damascus government and the Kurds?
All the Rojava institutions have rejected the interim constitution and most of the people of Syria do not accept this constitution. They will struggle against it and push Damascus to pull back and change the temporary constitution… and we do not know what will be the result.
But until Damascus takes some steps to address our refusal of this constitution, the Kurds will stay in place. The Jolani regime is not able to defeat the Kurdish people, so I do not expect clashes to start [between Damascus and Rojava].
To what extent is the uncertainty about the Donald Trump administration in the United States influencing the situation in Syria today?
The policy of the US is not clear yet but, from what we know, Trump has left all the politics in the region to Israel. We have to look at Israel’s movements and what it decides.
[Israel] will try to arrange things according to its own interests.
Has there been any relenting in the Turkish attacks on Rojava since Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdoğan reluctantly supported the 8-point agreement in Damascus?
Turkey has not given up his enmity towards the Kurdish people and the Rojava project. Their shelling and fighting against north-east Syria is continuing through planes, drones and the militia groups in the “Syrian National Army” that it is supporting in Syria. But these groups are weakening because of the strong resistance from our people on the ground.
After the agreement with the SDF the new regime in Damascus could tell Turkey to stop. I don’t know if they are able to do it, but they should.
Are the militia groups carrying out atrocities against Alawites in the coastal region controlled or influenced by Turkey?
Those groups are controlled by Turkey and they have been used in many other places like Libya, Somalia and even in Armenia. They are mercenaries under the control of Turkey.
Turkey should withdraw its dirty hands from Syria so we can have a stable Syria.
[For more information on the contents of Syria’s transitional constitution, visit rojavainformationcenter.org.]