SOAS Kurdish Society London and Kurdish Institute invite you on a seminar on
THE CURRENT SITUATION IN ROJAVA AND PROSPECTS FOR A KURDISH DEMOCRATIC MODEL IN SYRIA
Keynote Speaker:SALIH MUSLIM
Wednesday, 21st of May 2014 @ 7PM
Venue: Khalili Lecture Theatre (KLT) – SOAS, University of London (WC1H 0XG)
The Kurds have distanced themselves from both violent sides (the regime or the opposition), preferring their own ‘Third Way’ since the civil war has been started in Syria. The Kurds have insisted that they prefer peaceful methods for solving the current problems and refuse to side with either the regime or the opposition, as both strongly reject to recognize the identity of various groups which live in Syria. The Kurdish approach proposes fair representation of all peoples and identities within a unitary Syria. It welcomes a diplomatic solution, regards no-one as an enemy and seeks only to defend itself against external hostilities. It works for the application of the democratic autonomy project founded on the principle of people’s shared destiny. The Kurds have chosen an alternative that foresees a joint future, not only for ethnic groups such as Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Chechens and Turcoman, but also for religious identities such as Christian, Muslim, Yezidi, Sunni and Alawite. The Kurds did not take part in the war and only organised themselves both socially and militarily to defend their regions. Indeed, the new establish democratic multi-ethnic self- administration in Rojava, an autonomous administration area in northern Syria, has demonstrated a success of this model, where Kurds alongside with others communities, Arabs, Assyrian, Armenians are running their affairs and governing themselves democratically and freely in three administrative cantons.
Salih Muslim is a prominent member of the Kurdish opposition in Syria and has been Chairman of the PYD, which controls Rojava, an autonomous administration area in northern Syria, since 2010. He is also the deputy coordinator of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change. At this seminar Mr. Muslim will assess the progress of Kurdish politics and local government and discuss the movement for a political settlement and prospects for a Kurdish democratic model in Syria.
The Democratic Union Party (PYD) is one of the leading Syrian Kurdish political parties, and a member organisation of the Kurdish Supreme Council, a coalition of Syrian Kurdish parties formed in Erbil in July 2012. Having long opposed the oppressive regime in Damascus, the PYD advocates a pluralistic democratic Syria, which recognises the rights of all of Syria’s peoples and protects the cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity of the country.
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