Syria's Islamist leaders said on Sunday that Kurdish demands for the country to adopt a decentralized system of government in a post-Assad political order posed a threat to national unity.
"We clearly reject any attempt to impose a partition or create separatist cantons under the terms of federalism or self-autonomy without a national consensus," Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's office said in a statement.
"The unity of Syrian territory and its people is a red line," the statement said.
Kurdish political parties came together in eastern Syria on Saturday in a historic meeting that represents a major shift for the region.
Rival Syrian Kurdish parties, including the dominant faction in the Kurdish-run northeast, agreed at the meeting in Syria's Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli on a common political vision for Syria's Kurdish minority.
The Kurdish media outlet Ruday said, “Kurdish political groups in Syria have agreed on a joint vision for a decentralized, democratic state that guarantees Kurdish rights and calls for a national dialogue to reshape the country’s future, according to the final statement issued by a conference held on Saturday in northeast Syria (Rojava).” Rojava is the name of the Kurdish region in eastern Syria where Kurds live.
How everything started
When the Syrian civil war began, the Kurdish regions of eastern Syria were mostly abandoned by the Syrian government. Kurds were historically oppressed in Syria. However, they were not seen as a threat to Damascus.
In eastern Syria, there was a lack of unity, and this was exacerbated by the war years and the decision by the rulers to essentially exclude Kurds from groups that were centrist, right-leaning, or more conservative.
After the Assad regime fell, they eventually reached out to Ahmed al-Sharaa and the new government.