Veteran Politician Warns Syria Must Guarantee Kurdish Rights in Constitution to Avoid Unrest

Syria's constitution must guarantee the rights of the Kurdish community, the country's largest ethnic minority group, a veteran politician has said, warning that the move towards a more centralised state risks fuelling tension as Damascus works to integrate Kurdish-led troops into the military.

Ilham Ahmed, a Syrian Kurdish leader, told the Middle East Research Institute Forum in Erbil, Iraq, that the integration process had made significant headway, but remained a work in progress as the Kurds stake out a claim in the new Syrian political dispensation under President Ahmad Al Shara. Ms Ahmed, a senior figure in the former Kurdish-led autonomous administration in north-east Syria, is now a member of the foreign relations committee in the Syrian parliament.

She noted that the process of merging the Syrian Democratic Forces with the military had helped to relink cities, reopen border crossings and create conditions for greater stability following the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s regime. While highlighting the importance of women’s participation in public life from the experience of self-administration, Ms Ahmed warned that their role in institutions and decision-making was now diminishing despite the ongoing integration process.

Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi announced in August from the city of Qamishli that the integration of the Kurdish administration into Syria’s state institutions was complete, building on an agreement struck between Damascus and the SDF in January. Mediated by Washington and Paris and endorsed by Ankara, the deal sought to end hostilities and establish a road map for incorporating the north-east into state institutions while offering specific linguistic, cultural, and political rights.

In January, Mr Al Shara issued a decree offering concessions including recognising Nowruz as a national holiday, designating Kurdish as a national language to be taught in schools, and granting Syrian nationality to previously stateless Kurds. However, Ms Ahmed described these measures as incomplete, noting that mechanisms remain necessary to fulfill the decree on the ground, particularly regarding education in the Kurdish language.

Tension has risen in areas such as Hasakah, Qamishli and Kobani over restrictions on Kurdish-language education imposed by authorities in Damascus. Ms Ahmed also challenged the negative perception of decentralisation in Syria, warning that moving towards a more centralised state will cause further tension and arguing that linguistic diversity strengthens rather than divides the country.