Russia should do balance the power struggling in Syria to prevent incidence of another Lipya . Mr. Putin rejected suggestion that international sanction or some form of military intervention -even outside the U.N. to resolve 15 months old conflict . It was necessary for the U.N 's searching the solution of Syria conflict .
Simply naming a Kurdish leader may not be enough for the SNC to rally the support of many minorities. Among Kurds in Syria, even those who welcomed the move acknowledged its limitations, given the splits among the opposition and divisions within the Syrian Kurdish community.
"This affirms Kurdish identity but not much will change," said Ahmed Mousa, an activist from the northern Syrian Kurdish city of Qamishli. "Kurds won't step in front of the cannon unless they get guarantees endorsed by the international community."
Abdul-Hakim Bachar, a leading member of the Kurdish National Council, an umbrella group of nearly a dozen Syrian Kurd opposition parties that was formed in October, said there "must be a pact that safeguards the rights of all components of the Syrian nation and offers them guarantees that change is in their interest."
"Barring this, most of the components—Alawites, Druze, Ismailis, Christians and some Kurds—will remain on the sidelines of the revolution," he says. Together those groups make up between 35% and 40% of Syria's population of about 22.5 million, according to estimates by various United Nations agencies.
The Kurds are an especially large and important minority. They have long been treated as second-class, and the regime has denied many citizenship.
In the wake of the uprising, President Assad offered Kurds citizenship and other benefits. While few have become ardent backers of the regime, the group has remained divided, and Kurds haven't joined the rebellion in the large numbers opponents of the regime had hoped for.
The SNC's election of Mr. Sieda as its new leader was an apparent appeal to minorities. The 56-year-old academic was the only contender for the post, which he will hold for three months before another election is held.
Burhan Ghalioun, a secular Sunni academic based in Paris, resigned three weeks ago over criticism that the council wasn't working transparently and that it had grown out of touch with the protest movement inside Syria. For months, protesters have criticized the group's leaders—most of whom have lived in exile for many years—for neglecting basic requests from inside Syria for funds, aid, and arms as they jockeyed for political positions. Western nations trying to shape the council into a transitional body have stressed the need to make it more inclusive to a broader range of Syrians.
The SNC was born of a power-sharing agreement between Syria's most powerful exiled opposition faction, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, and secular groups, grass-roots activists, and independent opposition leaders from religious or ethnic minorities, like Mr. Sieda.
Some activists were quick to point out that Mr. Sieda shares many of the weaknesses that eventually discredited Mr. Ghalioun's leadership, which was seen as a superficial front to a council dominated by heavyweight political players including the Brotherhood.
Mr. Sieda—who is Sunni Muslim as well as ethnic Kurdish—has been based in Sweden for much of the two decades he has lived outside Syria. He is not an influential leader within the Kurdish community, observers say, but is seen as the only candidate the divided SNC could agree on. A push behind a Christian candidate failed largely due to objections from Islamists on the council.
Simply naming a Kurdish leader may not be enough for the SNC to rally the support of many minorities. Among Kurds in Syria, even those who welcomed the move acknowledged its limitations, given the splits among the opposition and divisions within the Syrian Kurdish community.
"This affirms Kurdish identity but not much will change," said Ahmed Mousa, an activist from the northern Syrian Kurdish city of Qamishli. "Kurds won't step in front of the cannon unless they get guarantees endorsed by the international community."
Abdul-Hakim Bachar, a leading member of the Kurdish National Council, an umbrella group of nearly a dozen Syrian Kurd opposition parties that was formed in October, said there "must be a pact that safeguards the rights of all components of the Syrian nation and offers them guarantees that change is in their interest."
"Barring this, most of the components—Alawites, Druze, Ismailis, Christians and some Kurds—will remain on the sidelines of the revolution," he says. Together those groups make up between 35% and 40% of Syria's population of about 22.5 million, according to estimates by various United Nations agencies.
The Kurds are an especially large and important minority. They have long been treated as second-class, and the regime has denied many citizenship.
In the wake of the uprising, President Assad offered Kurds citizenship and other benefits. While few have become ardent backers of the regime, the group has remained divided, and Kurds haven't joined the rebellion in the large numbers opponents of the regime had hoped for.
The SNC's election of Mr. Sieda as its new leader was an apparent appeal to minorities. The 56-year-old academic was the only contender for the post, which he will hold for three months before another election is held.
Burhan Ghalioun, a secular Sunni academic based in Paris, resigned three weeks ago over criticism that the council wasn't working transparently and that it had grown out of touch with the protest movement inside Syria. For months, protesters have criticized the group's leaders—most of whom have lived in exile for many years—for neglecting basic requests from inside Syria for funds, aid, and arms as they jockeyed for political positions. Western nations trying to shape the council into a transitional body have stressed the need to make it more inclusive to a broader range of Syrians.
The SNC was born of a power-sharing agreement between Syria's most powerful exiled opposition faction, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, and secular groups, grass-roots activists, and independent opposition leaders from religious or ethnic minorities, like Mr. Sieda.
Some activists were quick to point out that Mr. Sieda shares many of the weaknesses that eventually discredited Mr. Ghalioun's leadership, which was seen as a superficial front to a council dominated by heavyweight political players including the Brotherhood.
Mr. Sieda—who is Sunni Muslim as well as ethnic Kurdish—has been based in Sweden for much of the two decades he has lived outside Syria. He is not an influential leader within the Kurdish community, observers say, but is seen as the only candidate the divided SNC could agree on. A push behind a Christian candidate failed largely due to objections from Islamists on the council.
No comments:
Post a Comment