Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Kurds Annex Arab Areas to ‘Federal System’ | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Members of Council of Northern Syria Federal System vote on dividing the region into three federal administrative provinces, in Rmelan, Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan), Syria, July 27, 2017. (Photo: HAWAR/SDF)


London- The electoral and administrative division laws of the “Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria” established during meetings held by Kurdish groups in the country’s northwestern town of Rmelan, reveal an expansion of the self-administrative system to three provinces including Arab-majority areas liberated, which the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have liberated from ISIS.

Fawza al-Yusuf, a political leader of the Kurdish self-proclaimed Democratic Federal System, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday that Raqqa, where SDF forces are fighting ISIS, is set to be administered by a local civil council, which would later decide whether to join the Federal System or not.

Al-Yusuf said it was still early to discuss the case of Deir Ezzor due to the presence of a military operation to liberate the area.

The “democratic federal” system law established three administrative provinces run by the main Kurdish groups in the north.

Those areas include the provinces of Al-Jazira, Al-Furat (Euphrates), and Afrin.

According to the new law, the Euphrates includes Kobani and Tal Abyad, both located in the country’s north, while Al-Jazira province includes the Hasaka and Qamishlo districts, both in the northeast.

As for Afrin province, it includes Afrin and Shahba in the country’s northwest.

A copy of the two laws received by Asharq Al-Awsat shows the dates set by the Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria for the local council and regional assembly elections.

According to both laws, elections will be held on Sept. 22 for bodies running local communities, on Nov. 3 for bodies running larger areas and next Jan. 19 for the region as a whole.

The laws also allow Kurds, whom Damascus did not offer the nationality, the right to vote and run for the elections.

The laws also divided the administrative units for the elections, starting from a farm, which includes 100 persons to a region with 50 thousand.