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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/opinion/syria-kurds-rojava-autonomy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Kk8.9Lsr.Y-mbdF-dRj_0&smid=url-share">nytimes.com</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Opinion | Syrian Freedom Is Dangerously Incomplete</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Ilham Ahmed</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div id="gmail-site-content"><p>May 28, 2025</p><div><div><span><img alt="A statue of Hafez al-Assad broken off its base and lying head down on the ground." src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/05/30/multimedia/28ahmed-gbwj/28ahmed-gbwj-articleLarge-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" width="315" height="394" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;"></span></div><span>A destroyed statue of Hafez al-Assad.</span><span><span>Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">William Keo for The New York Times</span></span></span></div><div><p><span>By </span><span>Ilham Ahmed</span></p><div><p>Ms. Ahmed is a chair of the foreign relations department of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.</p></div></div><div><p>Syrians
across the country celebrated the fall of the Assad regime in December
as a moment of joy and freedom. Next, President Trump made the welcome
decision to suspend economic sanctions against our country, a move that
will help alleviate years of suffering. But for Syria\u2019s many diverse
peoples \u2014 including mine, the Kurds in the northeast \u2014 this remains a
time of risk and anxiety.</p><p>As a new Syria takes shape, we must ask:
What kind of state will it be? Democratic or autocratic?
Rights-respecting or repressive? I believe the answer lies in my region,
where we have created what we consider to be a model of <a href="https://journal.equinoxpub.com/CIS/article/view/9744" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">multiethnic direct democracy</a>.</p><p>Syria\u2019s new interim Constitution doesn\u2019t reflect this diversity. It doesn\u2019t fully <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/03/syrias-new-constitution-gives-sweeping-powers-ignores-minority-rights" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">protect the rights</a> of Syria\u2019s minorities or women, and it declares that Islamic law is the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/world/europe/syria-constitution-new-government.html" title="">source for all national law</a>
in a highly centralized state. This is a dangerous development. Syria\u2019s
history of autocracy, repression and rule by one ethnic group, to the
exclusion of others, is a history of failure. We need a new
constitutional process to produce a document that guarantees power
sharing, safeguards political freedoms, decentralizes governance and
allows for full democratic participation, regardless of religion,
ethnicity or gender.</p><p>This very democratic model was born in the
early days of the Syrian revolution, when my region, which we formally
call the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, <a href="https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/04/26/rojava-and-the-fight-for-autonomy/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">achieved autonomy</a>, in 2012. Also known by its Kurdish name, Rojava, the area makes up <a href="https://www.geo-ref.net/en/xks.htm" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">nearly one-third</a> of Syria and is home to almost <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/kurds/kurdish-statehood-autonomous-administration-of-north-and-east-syria/7E480476CFC27855E54F0E967AF1F7BF" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">two million Kurds</a>. But like the rest of Syria, it is also <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/society/the-largest-ethnic-groups-in-syria.html#:~:text=Syria's%2520rich%2520ethnic%2520pallet%2520includes,primary%2520cultural%2520and%2520linguistic%2520identity." title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">home</a> to Arabs, Alawites, Armenians, Druse, Chechens and other ethnic groups. It includes <a href="https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/syrian-culture/syrian-culture-religion#:~:text=According%2520to%2520CIA%2520World%2520Factbook,Christian%2520state%2520holidays%2520are%2520followed." title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">many religions,</a>
with Shia and Sunni Muslims, Yazidis and a diverse range of Assyrian,
Syriac, Chaldean and other ancient Christian traditions, as well as
secularists.</p></div><div><p>Under our administration, ethnic groups are legally protected, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/09/woman-life-freedom-the-syrian-feminists-who-forged-a-new-world-in-a-land-of-war" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">women are given a leading role</a>
in policymaking and society. In a part of the world with a history of
autocracy and repression, we believe our system could serve as a model
not only for Syria but also for the entire Middle East.</p><div id="gmail-NYT_MAIN_CONTENT_1_REGION"><p><span>Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter </span><span>Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning. </span></p></div><p>Different
communities have a say in our government through a power-sharing
arrangement in which every administrative position \u2014 from local
mayoralties to the executive council of the entire region \u2014 is <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/model-gender-equitable-leadership-northeast-syria" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">jointly held by a man and a woman of different ethnicities</a>.
Citizens meet in assemblies to govern their neighborhoods, villages and
towns and send delegates to regional councils. Local committees help
shape policy on health, education, defense, sports, women\u2019s rights and
more.</p><p>Our regional Constitution, which we call a <a href="https://rojavainformationcenter.org/2023/12/aanes-social-contract-2023-edition/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">social contract</a>, guarantees equal rights for all. The system is not <a href="https://strangematters.coop/arthur-pye-rojava-reporting-preface/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">perfect</a>.
Despite our efforts at redistributing land once held by the Assad
regime, there is still too much economic inequality. We suffer from
antiquated infrastructure, serious environmental problems and a dearth
of economic investment \u2014 all exacerbated by more than 12 years of war.
We must work harder to <a href="https://nlka.net/eng/enhancing-diverse-democracy-ne-syrias-new-social-contract/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">get more people involved</a> at the local level and to <a href="https://novaramedia.com/2021/02/15/rojava-is-trying-to-build-a-green-society-but-turkey-is-starving-it-of-water-and-power/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">carry out our commitment to ecological awareness</a>. But democracy is something that takes practice.</p><p>Our
commitment to democracy and women\u2019s rights gave us the strength to
fight the Islamic State, which we have defeated, with American military
support, thanks to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/21/drones-are-above-our-heads-kurdish-led-sdf-fights-for-survival-in-syria" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">14,000</a> of our young men and women who gave their lives in battle.</p><p>What
can other countries in the region learn from our system? Arabic was
once the only official language in Syria; we teach students in <a href="https://syriacpress.com/blog/2024/11/13/syriac-kurdish-and-arabic-adopted-as-official-languages-in-areas-of-democratic-autonomous-administration-of-the-region-of-north-and-east-syria/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">three official languages</a>: Arabic, Kurdish and Syriac. We have an <a href="https://nlka.net/eng/reporting-a-revolution-how-rojavas-press-evolved/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">independent, free, robust media</a> that is protected in our social contract. We employ a restorative justice system that includes the <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/rojavas-women-led-restorative-justice-system-centers-mediation-not-retribution/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mala Jin</a><em> </em>(women\u2019s
houses), where families can work out domestic problems with the advice
and help of female elders. We encourage the full expression of ethnic
culture, religion and dress. We don\u2019t demand that women wear their
clothes in a certain way. Women <a href="https://bioneers.org/rojava-revolution-womens-liberation-democracy-and-ecology-in-north-east-syria-ztvz2406/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hold half</a> of legislative seats and government jobs and take leadership positions in all institutions \u2014 <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/591561/the-daughters-of-kobani-by-gayle-tzemach-lemmon/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">military</a>, political, economic and social.</p></div><div><p>Our
experience provides valuable lessons for Syria\u2019s political future.
Centralized control, instituted by the French authorities who once
dominated Syria, has been a disaster, as it has for so many similarly
diverse countries in the Middle East. The postcolonial legacy has failed
the Middle East time and time again. It makes much more sense to allow
regions to govern themselves according to their own needs and traditions
within a unified nation.</p><p>We signed an <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/facilitating-new-sdf-agreement-key-stabilizing-syria" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">agreement with Damascus</a>
in March stating our intention to integrate our institutions and armed
forces into the new administration, and the interim president, Ahmed
al-Shara, in turn, agreed to the right to representation of all Syrians
in the new government, a cease-fire on all Syrian territory and a
promise that all displaced Syrians would be able to return to their
towns and villages. These commitments are welcome and will contribute to
stability in the country.</p><p>But the interim Constitution, which Mr. al-Shara signed in March, with elections scheduled to be held in five years, <a href="https://bianet.org/haber/it-s-a-recipe-for-one-man-rule-syrias-new-constitution-shatters-hopes-305730" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">threatens</a>
to undermine these good intentions. Largely created by those involved
in Mr. al-Shara\u2019s former rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, it allows for
the curtailing of civil rights, including religious rights, if they are
deemed to infringe on public order. There are inadequate checks and
balances on the executive, who is given supreme power to appoint judges
and one-third of the legislature.</p><p>I am deeply concerned by these policies. Fault lines in the country since Assad\u2019s fall are already beginning to show. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/09/world/middleeast/syria-violence.html" title="">terrible violence</a> on Syria\u2019s coast in March, in which more than 1,600 civilians were killed, mostly Alawites, and more <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/world/europe/syria-sectarian-fighting-druse.html" title="">recent aggression</a> against the Druse community south of Damascus underline the need for a new democratic constitutional process.</p><p>The
new Syria must, from the outset, include everyone. The Trump
administration and U.S. Congress have a historic opportunity to help us
build such a government in Syria. It would not only help Syrians but
also provide a blueprint for the entire Middle East.</p></div><div><p><a href="https://x.com/elhamahmadsdc?lang=en" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ilham Ahmed</a>
is a chair of the foreign relations department of the Democratic
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. She is a former
co-chair of the executive committee of the Syrian Democratic Council.</p><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>