{"id":134597,"date":"2026-01-15T06:58:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T06:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=134597"},"modified":"2026-01-15T06:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T06:58:09","slug":"senior-aanes-official-says-syrias-political-transition-cannot-come-at-kurds-expense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds&#8217; expense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013<\/strong> Ilham Ahmad, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said on Thursday that any political transition of power in Syria cannot take place at the expense of the Kurdish people or other minorities, while reaffirming the AANES&#8217; commitment to political dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ahmad made the remarks in response to statements by several members of the U.S. Senate, thanking Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim Risch for their support. \u201cThank you for your critical support,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She added that Syria\u2019s transitional government is demanding that the AANES dismantle its defensive structures, &#8220;while simultaneously launching brutal and cruel attacks against Kurdish people in Aleppo.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ahmad stressed that the AANES remains \u201ccommitted to dialogue,\u201d but said this does not mean accepting a transition of power in Syria \u201cat the expense of Kurdish people and other minorities who fought alongside America against ISIS.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Your clear messages provide hope that our partnership and sacrifices will not be forgotten,&#8221; she said, expressing appreciation for U.S. support for \u201cyour allies in the darkest of times.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Wednesday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said he supports giving Syria\u2019s new government an opportunity, but emphasized that he will not &#8220;tolerate or accept a brazen attack against our Kurdish allies, who are the main force in destroying the ISIS caliphate.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a post on the X platform, Graham said he supports Senator Jim Risch\u2019s call for de-escalation in Syria, while placing clear responsibility on the new Syrian government that human rights violations against minorities will not be tolerated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Graham said he was particularly concerned by what he described as \u201ccredible reports\u201d suggesting that Syrian forces, along with Turkey, could advance against U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, warning that such a move &#8220;would invoke a strong reaction from the United States.&#8221; He urged both the Syrian government and Turkey to \u201cchoose wisely\u201d at this stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For his part, Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was deeply concerned by the conduct of armed forces in Aleppo last week, calling on the Syrian transitional government to hold those responsible for these horrific acts accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Risch stressed that the role of Syria\u2019s new government and its armed forces, after years of war, should be to protect the inherent rights of its citizens, not violate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>By Taysir Mohammed<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Ilham Ahmad, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said on Thursday that any political transition of power in Syria cannot take place at the expense of the Kurdish people or other minorities, while reaffirming the AANES&#8217; commitment to political dialogue. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":134598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39,3,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-politics","category-syria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds&#039; expense<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Ilham Ahmad, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds&#039; expense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Ilham Ahmad, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North press agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-15T06:58:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-15T06:58:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/865351Image1-750x430-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"430\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"semav1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"semav1\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"semav1\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0\"},\"headline\":\"Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds&#8217; expense\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-15T06:58:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-15T06:58:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":413,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/865351Image1-750x430-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"HOME\",\"Politics\",\"SYRIA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/\",\"name\":\"Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds' expense\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/865351Image1-750x430-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-15T06:58:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-15T06:58:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Ilham Ahmad, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/865351Image1-750x430-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/865351Image1-750x430-1.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":430,\"caption\":\"Ilham Ahmad, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/134597\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds&#8217; expense\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"description\":\"North press agency\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"width\":682,\"height\":388,\"caption\":\"North press agency\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/NPA.SYR\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/NPA_English\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/northpressagency\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0\",\"name\":\"semav1\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"semav1\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/semav1\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds' expense","description":"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Ilham Ahmad, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds' expense","og_description":"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Ilham Ahmad, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria","og_url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/","og_site_name":"North press agency","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","article_published_time":"2026-01-15T06:58:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-15T06:58:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":430,"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/865351Image1-750x430-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"semav1","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NPA_English","twitter_site":"@NPA_English","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"semav1","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/"},"author":{"name":"semav1","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0"},"headline":"Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds&#8217; expense","datePublished":"2026-01-15T06:58:06+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-15T06:58:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/"},"wordCount":413,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/865351Image1-750x430-1.jpg","articleSection":["HOME","Politics","SYRIA"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/","name":"Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds' expense","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/865351Image1-750x430-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-15T06:58:06+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-15T06:58:09+00:00","description":"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Ilham Ahmad, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/865351Image1-750x430-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/865351Image1-750x430-1.jpg","width":750,"height":430,"caption":"Ilham Ahmad, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/134597\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Senior AANES official says Syria\u2019s political transition cannot come at Kurds&#8217; expense"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","name":"North press agency","description":"North press agency","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization","name":"North press agency","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","width":682,"height":388,"caption":"North press agency"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/NPA_English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/northpressagency\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0","name":"semav1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"semav1"},"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/author\/semav1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134599,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134597\/revisions\/134599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}