Following the fall of the Ba'athist regime in Syria on 8 December, initiatives to establish intra-Kurdish dialogue in Northern and Eastern Syria have accelerated. Shaikh Mursîd El Xeznewî, one of the initiators of the initiative, spoke to ANF about the process.

El Xeznewî underlined the importance of Kurdish unity and said: "If Kurdish unity is not achieved and if there are differences among the Kurdish people, Kurds cannot achieve their rights. If we look at the experiences of history, we can easily see that the revolutions that did not succeed were undermined by differences. Those who wanted to achieve success were in favor of the alliance."

El Xeznewî added: "Take Nelson Mandela. When people united, they won. Kurds have to put aside their differences, and avoid the mistakes of the past. In this way, we can avoid new failures. If we failed in the past, it was not because the enemy was stronger, but because we were not united. But a new history is being written in Rojava and Syria. The Kurdish people now have friends around the world ready to help them . That’s why Kurds must unite, because if they are not ready for this process, our friends can do little. That’s why unity is more important than ever."

El Xeznewî continued: "People are in favour of unity. People are calling for this unity. Each political party has different demands and requests. Some demands are valid, but these demands should not be an obstacle to unity. A first meeting was held between Mazlum Abdi and ENKS (Kurdish National Council in Syria). This was a good start, and we hope the meetings will continue. We know things are not going to happen overnight, but we will continue to meet."