Syria’s AANES opens diplomatic office in Switzerland

North Press/expulsive – On Monday, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) opened a diplomatic office in the city of Geneva in Switzerland, which has become the seventh office to be opened outside Syria.

The opening ceremony was attended by government representatives, Swiss and Syrian politicians, as well as representatives of civil society organizations interested in the Syrian issue.

During the ceremony, Badran Jia Kurd, deputy co-presidency of the AANES, thanked the Swiss government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “and everyone who contributed to the success of the step.”

“The aim of the office is to develop relations with the Swiss government and people, and this office will serve as a bridge between us,” he said.

He added that it is necessary for the Autonomous Administration and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to be represented everywhere, as they sacrificed a lot to stabilize the global security by fighting ISIS for consecutive years.

He described the ISIS threat as the strategic threat to the region and the world, saying: “So we need international efforts to eradicate it.”

Photos of the martyrs of the war against ISIS and other landmarks of northeast Syria were hung on the wall of the office.  

While the representative of the Autonomous Administration in Switzerland, Hikmat Ibrahim, said: “The current circumstances are exceptional. We face several challenges and difficulties, but we promise our people in northeast Syria that we will spare no effort complete our path to achieve the democratic project.”

In a statement issued in the city of Geneva this morning, the office said that “It has become necessary to start opening diplomatic offices of the Autonomous administration in the countries that have significant effects on the Syrian issue, including Germany and France, and then Sweden and the Benelux Union.”

Reporting by Hoshang Hassan