Foza Yûsif, a prominent leader in the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD), has commented on the different articles in the recent 10 March agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syria’s interim government, condemning the recent massacres against Alawites in Syria and pointing out that the agreement covers all peoples and beliefs in Syria, saying that “No one will be left out of the solution”.
Yûsif, a member of the PYD Co-Presidency, highlighted that the agreement shows the need for building a democratic Syria “through dialogue” and to “abandon the policies of denial” and pointed out that the realisation of the articles in the agreement depends on the work of the committees to be formed in the coming days.
The SDF-Damascus deal consists of eight provisions, with a focus on the recognition of the Kurds as an indigenous part of Syria with guaranteed citizenship and constitutional rights, a nationwide ceasefire, and the merging of civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria into the central Damascus government administration.
Yûsif underlined the importance of the provision to recognise the Kurdish community as an indigenous part of the Syrian state, and explained that the rights of all peoples and beliefs will be guaranteed in the new Syrian constitution:
"The agreement means the recognition of the existence of the Kurds, which has been denied by the Baath regime until today. The issue of identity will be addressed in the constitutional work to be carried out in the coming days and will be included in the constitution. Not only Kurds, but all peoples whose identities are ignored should be protected in the constitution."
Foza Yûsif emphasised the meaning that the agreement has for the inhabitants of cities such as Afrin (Efrîn), Ras al-Ayn (Serê Kaniyê) and Tel Abyad (Girê Spî), which are occupied by the Turkish state and its affiliated Syrian National Army (SNA), leading to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people, many of them residing in refugee camps in North and East Syria. “Meticulous efforts are being made for the safe return of the peoples to their places. We are in talks with both the United Nations (UN) and the Damascus government on this issue. Peoples should return to the lands where they were born,” Yusif said.
Commenting on the first article of the proposal, which is supposed to guarantee the inclusion of political representation of all Syrians irrespective of religious or ethnic backgrounds, Yusif said:
"This article is a guarantee that all peoples will participate directly in the developments that will take place in the coming days. Alawites are also an essential element of this land. The stance of the peoples living in Northern and Eastern Syria and the administration on the massacres is very clear. Tens of thousands of people condemned this massacre. No one will be left out of the solution."
Yûsif also reacted to the recent “Call for Peace and Democratic Society” made by imprisoned Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan, which was shared on 27 February, saying that the call “determines the road map of the new century” and shows the “fact that those who insist on the politics of violence and war will definitely lose”. She also stated that the recent call by Öcalan had underlined the need to find peaceful solutions through democratic politics and that the new agreement falls in line with Öcalan’s call, paving the way for a democratic and free Syria.
