The Syrian interim president called for unity and rebuilding the fractured country on Tuesday during a two-day meeting aimed at charting the path ahead after decades of dictatorship.
Hundreds of participants attended the much-anticipated “National Dialogue” and gathered many religions and sects of the country on Monday and Tuesday in Damascus, the capital of Syria. However, at least one major player was absent. The Kurdish-led militia that ruled much of Syria's northeastern part were not invited.
“Syria calls for you to work together in unity and cooperation to heal the wounds, relieve the pain and support your recovery,” President Ahmed Arshara said in a speech to participants at the conference.
What is a national dialogue?
Arab and Western leaders have urged the new Syrian rulers to establish representative governments, including all religious sects and ethnic groups, before they can fully restore relations with Syria.
Alshara, who had overturned longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad and seized control of Syria in early December, said he would be holding a national dialogue to discuss the formation of such a government. I promised.
Syrian leaders have promoted the conference as the first step towards drafting the country's new constitution. This could be a long-standing process that Alshara said would take three years.
The meeting has been waiting for a long time, but hastily arranged, especially as the government had set a deadline of March 1 to begin the process of forming a representative government.
The conference invitation was sent on February 23rd to 100 participants, including community leaders, academics and religious figures, one day before it began.
Journalists, businessmen, activists, former detainees and some of the families of those killed or injured in the 13-year civil war in Syria were also invited.
What about the Kurds?
Alshara talks about the need to unite many diverse groups in Syria to build a new country. Syria is a majority of Sunni Muslims, but it has many religious and ethnic minorities, including Alawis, dried foods, Christians and Kurds.
But many in Syria are skeptical of the country's new Muslim leadership, and some have criticised the lack of minority representation at conferences.
Attempts to integrate all of these communities already meet important challenges.
Among the Kurds, which make up about 10% of Syria's population, some of the Kurds invited to the national dialogue are some Kurds. But that wasn't the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the US-supporting militia that controls much of Syria's northeastern part. The Syrian interim government has called for the militia to be disarmed and joined the unified national army as a condition for them to participate in the dialogue.
At Tuesday's meeting, Alshara reaffirmed the need to put the country's web of armed groups under state control.
“There are people who are trying to undermine the outcomes of the Syrian people. We must stand firmly against those who are trying to tamper with our security and unity,” he said in a statement. I said it without giving a name.
The committee that organizes the conference previously said that Syrian democratic troops do not represent all Syrian Kurds.
Turkey, a close ally of Alshara's rebel groups, has been trying to curb the power of the Syrian democratic army for many years.
What will happen to the dialogue?
Many Syrians are skeptical of what state dialogue will bring, especially in a deeply divided country where sectarian tensions already ripple over the murder of revenge.
The Syrians were also wary of the promise of inclusiveness from the government led by Alshara's Muslim group Hayat Taharil Al-Sham, giving the position of the government and ministers to their own loyalty. The other rebel groups that helped the government kick Assad out are not yet included.
The conference organizers say that although it is happening simultaneously, there is no direct link between the formation of a new Syrian government and dialogue.
Meeting participants are expected to issue recommendations on the new government, as well as writing the new constitution and law. However, these recommendations appear to be non-binding.
“Recommendations from the National Dialogue are not mere advice and procedures, but provide the basis for the interim constitutional declaration, economic identity and institutional reform program,” said Hassan al-Dugaim, a spokesman for the committee. Ta.
