Syrian government rejects NE Syria conference, withdraws from Paris talks
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – A source in the Syrian transitional government said on Saturday that the “Unity of Communities” conference was “a blow to ongoing negotiation efforts” and, as a result, the government will not take part in any upcoming meetings in Paris.
Speaking to the state-run SANA news agency, the source stressed that the government “will not sit at the negotiating table with any party attempting to revive the era of the defunct regime under any name or guise.”
The conference was held on Friday with wide participation from Arab tribal leaders, representatives of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), and religious figures from northeastern Syria as well as from other parts of Syria. It issued a final statement calling for the drafting of a new democratic constitution that guarantees pluralism and fair political participation for all components of the country.
The source accused these parties of relying on external support to convene such conferences as a way to evade the requirements of the future and abandon the core principles of the Syrian state—one army, one government, one country.
He claimed the conference aimed to advance proposals that contradict the March 10 agreement—including forming a nucleus of a new “national army,” revisiting the constitutional declaration, and altering administrative divisions—despite the agreement’s clear stipulations to integrate all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria into state institutions.