Political document unifies Assyrian, Syriac parties in Syria’s Qamishli  

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Political formations of Assyrians and Syriacs in northeastern Syrian signed a political understanding on April 1 in tandem with Akitu spring festival. 

The two parties which signed the understanding diverse in their affiliation; the Assyrian Democratic Organization is affiliated with Turkey-based opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) while the Syriac Union Party participated in establishing the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The first of April of each year marks Akitu, also known as Babylonian or Assyrian New Year, which is celebrated by Assyrians, Syriacs and Chaldeans as a day of revival and resurrection. The celebration of the Assyrian New Year dates back to the first Babylonian Assyrian dynasty, or the beginning of the second millennium B.C.  

Agreement on decentralization

“Time is available for all the patriotic powers to involve in dialogue to reach understandings among all the communities with the view to reorganize the situation of our region,”  Gabriel Moshe Gawriya, in charge of external relations in the Assyrian Democratic Organization said.

“The dialogue enjoyed an Assyrian and Syriac support despite there was no international sponsorship,” Gawriya added. 

The signed understanding document decided  decentralization is the best system to run Syria with preserving the unity of its territories.

“To achieve that, we need a decentralization regime in Syria. In my point of view, decentralization was the key articles included in the understanding document,” Gawriya noted. 

A precise survey for the numbers of the Assyrians is not available in Syria, specially that many of them immigrated abroad during the Syrian war. 

Withdrawal following agreement

Following the Assyrian and Syriac agreement, the Free National Assembly (political body affiliated with the SNC) designated for dissent staff employees in the Syrian state institutions announced its withdrawal from the SNC. 

The decision of the withdrawal came only hours after the SNC fired 14 of its members.   

The dissent staff employees issued a statement saying “ending the membership of the Free National Assembly in the SNC without communicating with the Assembly proves that the SNC follows the policy of taking decisions alone far from any rules or principles that must be abided with.” 

Some of the Assembly representatives objected the SNC’ policies and this was the reason why they were “permanently accused and abused, verbally or physically.”

Reporting by Raghad al-Motlaq