Democratic Autonomous Administration issues statement in response to Ba’ath leader Bashar al-Assad’s Arab nationalist remarks

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA – In the recent statements by President of the Syrian Baath regime Bashar al-Assad during a meeting of the Syrian Ministry of Endowments at the Othman Mosque in Daramsuq (Damascus), al-Assad ranked all Syrian components under the banner of Arabism. Arab nationalism is central in the ideology of the Ba’ath party which is led by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and which ideology has been dominant in the country’s politics and policies for half a century.

Despite Bashar’s father Hafez al-Assad having stated on several occasions that Syria is in the name of the Syriacs, Syriacs, for example, are only regarded under the Ba’ath ideology as Arab Christians and as such allowed to practice their Christian beliefs.

In a response statement to al-Assad recent remarks, the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA) of North and East Syria rejected his statements as only further exacerbating the Syrian crisis and not helping genuine efforts to build a new inclusive Syria.

According to the DAA statement, the Syrian President’s recent statements on important issues including his failed handling of the Syrian crisis and his denial of Syrian diversity, does not in any way express the needed openness and inclusivity needed from all involved parties claiming to work for the interests of Syria and the its people.

The DAA stressed that narrowing Syrian cultural and ethnic diversity of Syriacs (Arameans, Assyrians-Chaldeans), Kurds, Armenians, Circassians, Yazidis, Turkmen and all other cultures under the umbrella of Arabism, is neither compatible with the changes required in Syria, nor with the efforts required to build a new Syria.

The DAA affirmed its respect for all components, including for the Arab component which constitutes a large and original part of the Syrian society. However, the DAA denounced the Syrian regime’s exploitation of the Arab component to implement policies that only serve its own regime interests.

“For years, this traditional speech had not achieved any progress and did not bring forward one single solution for Syria; such denialist remarks are not beneficial in bringing any positive result,” the DAA statement declared.

The DAA stressed the need for all Syrian parties to adopt a policy compatible with change and the already present diversity. Denying the rights of any of the various components in Syria, is denying Syria’s social, cultural, and religious richness. Furthermore, this denial does not serve the future of Syria and the unity of its people. On the contrary, it facilitates breaking up its communal unity.