Future Syria Party: We seek good neighborly relations with Turkey
Raqqa – Muhammad Hassan – North-Press Agency
The head of Future Syria Party, Ibrahim al-Qaftan said that they seek to have a good-neighborly relations and common interests with Turkey, as well as with all regional and international countries and national forces inside and outside Syria.
In an interview with “North-Press”, al-Qaftan said that Future Syria Party has stressed on the need to establish these relations since the party’s final statement at its first conference in March last year.
Based in the city of Raqqa and with branches in most cities of northeastern Syria, Future Syria Party is an active political party in the northern and eastern regions of Syria.
The Safe Zone
Mr al-Qaftan explained that the project of the Autonomous Administration doesn’t pose any threats to Turkey, “because international conventions are the real guarantor of any treaties and also what we see on the ground,” pointing out that no fire was shot from their territories towards the Turkish side, “and we never pose a threat to Turkish national security, the neighbor, and in the end, we seek stability in Syria.”
Regarding the party’s vision about the safe zone in northeastern Syria, al-Qaftan said: “We have repeatedly confirmed that there is no justification for the safe zone in Syria at this stage, especially since the democratic project in the northeast of Syria did not pose any threat to Turkey’s national security”, wondering: “Why didn’t Turkey ask for a safe zone in the early stages of the Syrian revolution or in the stage of ISIS?“
The head of the Future Syria party pointed out that although the Islamic State (ISIS) represented the “terrorist forces in the region, Turkey did not claim the safe zone on its border with ISIS,” explaining that “Turkey’s desire to thwart the democratic project in the region and expand its power in the whole region from Libya to Iraq, Syria and Egypt,” as he said.
Regarding the fears of the people in the northern and eastern regions of Syria of a new Turkish invasion, as happened in Afrin, al-Qaftan said: “It is natural to see fears among the people of the region after what they saw concerning the deeds of Turkey and other groups in Afrin, Jarablus and al-Bab, from chaos to continuous fighting between Turkey-backed militias, kidnapping and displacement, demographic change, resettlement of strangers and the expulsion of the real population.”
Al-Qaftan pointed out that people are comparing all these “violations” with “the democracy practiced in the northeast of Syria and how the future of the region is determined by the people of Syria.”
“Decentralized Syria”
Regarding his party’s vision to resolve the differences the region is witnessing, al-Qaftan explained that “any regional, internal or international dispute will be resolved only through dialogue based on international legal grounds, under the umbrella of the United Nations, and not on the basis of the winner and the loser in the military conflict.”
Regarding the extent of betting on the role of the US-led Global Coalition in maintaining stability in the region, the head of Future Syria party said: “We bet on our people, the people of the region, and then, we bet on the international powers and the coalition,” noting that they do not ignore that “We are allied with the US against any threats that may drag the region into a war that its consequences are unknown, the chaos and the return of ISIS in new clothes under Turkish auspices.”
Al-Qaftan considered that the US and the European role “is still positive in the region and in maintaining stabilization.”
Relations with the Syrian government
The head of Future Syria Party said that the Syrian government is an important part of the solution, but “there was no relationship between us and them in terms of finding a solution.”
“The formula on which we build our basis, is the democratic foundations, the peaceful transfer of power, the law of parties and allowing the political participation of any party based on national rather than jingoistic or religious grounds, as well as the recognition of the autonomous administrations and the principle of separating powers,” he stated.
Ibrahim al-Qaftan concluded his speech with his party’s vision for the future of Syria saying: “What we seek is to participate in the international forums, to draft a constitution for Syria on the basis of democracy and a decentralized system.”