A delegation from Rojava is currently in Strasbourg, France for the Parliamentarian Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) sessions and they held a panel discussion in the Council of Europe (CoE) to inform the public.

Cizire Canton Foreign Minister Abdulkerim Omer under the Northern Syrian Federation, Democratic Union Party (PYD) France Representative Dr. Xalid Isa and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Europe Representative Fayik Yağızay attended the panel discussion organized to inform the public abroad about the developments in Northern Syria.

A large number of PACE members, journalists, Palermo Mayor Juan Diego Catalano, Napoli Municipal Committee Member Massimiliano Voza were in the audience in the panel discussion.

Abdulkerim Omer stated that the Syria issue should be approached in a wholistic manner and added: “The Syrian Revolution developed at a time of very strict dictatorial practices. We developed our own system taking into account the interests of our people and we put it to practice.”

"DEFENSE WAS DEVELOPED THANKS TO ORGANIZATION ON THE BASIS OF AUTONOMY"

Omer pointed out that all peoples and faiths came together in an alliance on the basis of this system that has been developed, and stated that autonomy emerged as a result of this. Omer said they declared democratic autonomy that includes the coexistence of peoples, gender equality, free coexistence of faiths and developing joint solutions for economic issues.

Cizire Canton Foreign Minister Abdulkerim Omer stated that self defense was able to be developed due to this organizational structure that depends on the togetherness of peoples and added: “Thanks to this organization, we developed our self defense forces and were able to break the ISIS offensive.”

“DEMOCRATIC AUTONOMY IS A MUST TO END THE ISIS MINDSET”

Omer stated that ISIS gangs have since been diminished in the military sense and pointed out that the fight against gangs is not just in the military arena. Omer talked about the importance of fighting the ISIS mindset and stressed the role of democratic autonomy for this point.

Omer said: “We are diminishing ISIS today in the military sense, we are terminating them. But ISIS is a mindset as well, and we will also need to terminate this mindset. This is the reason we base ourselves on democratic autonomy.”

"DEVELOPING DEMOCRATIC AUTONOMY FOR ALL MIDDLE EAST AND HUMANITY"

During the panel discussion, the Cizire Foreign Minister also underlined that the democratic system developed first in Rojava and later throughout Northern Syria is not just a project for the peoples of the region. Abdulkerim Omer stated that the system has been developed for all the peoples of the Middle East and humanity.

Omer continued: “We are developing our own democratic system. We are developing the moral and political societal awareness. And this we are developing for the whole of the Middle East and humanity.”

DR. XALID ISA: THE ISSUE IN THE MIDDLE EAST IS SYSTEMIC

Dr. Xalid Isa also spoke in the panel discussion and pointed out that the diverse ethnic structure with various languages and faiths should be taken into account for the solution to the issues in the Middle East. Dr. Isa stated that the source of the issues is systemic and that despite that fact, issues and conflicts seen in other places did not emerge in Northern Syria.

Xalîd Isa said: “The Middle East is a land with many languages, many faiths and a diverse ethnic structure. The main source of the issues in the Middle East is systemic. We can see very clearly that there are no issues that emerge regarding the construction and development of a common life where the Autonomy is declared.”

Meanwhile, Danish parliamentarian Soren Sondergaard in the audience said they are interested in the elections to be held in Rojava. Sondergaard stated that they are expecting invitations to follow the elections.