Syrian Kurd Leader: Revolution Won't Succeed Without Minorities

Ghalioun said this in his interview with the Wall Street Journal two months ago, though he's gone back and forth on partnering with Hezbollah recently.

Ghalioun wants to be diplomatic. In fact, I believe, the SNC would completely cut ties with Hezbollah.

Recently, university students [in Syria] have said that Lebanese are enrolled in Syrian universities who aren't of university age. This is from student sources. Students have said that these are Hezbollah members.

The SNC has not been recognized by world governments, apart from Libya's, as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. If it were, would you be more willing to join?

If the international community recognized the SNC at this stage, that would be a very quick decision. It still represents only one side of the Syrian opposition, it doesn't include Kurds as Kurds. We are united and we have agreements. If we were to join the SNC fully, we'd do so from a unified political standpoint on this issue.

Is the KNC all in for regime change or are you entertaining a possible reconciliation with the Assad regime?

We are part of this revolution, we are not neutral. One of the main points in the KNC statement is that we don't want the present dictatorship and we refuse to accept any future dictatorships. We don't accept an Islamic government or a Muslim Brotherhood-led government. We will refuse that very firmly.

We have also decided not to have any dialog with the regime separately from the Syrian opposition. For example, if the international community decided all the opposition groups had to have a dialog with the regime, we'd support that, in case the current regime asks for negotiations for a transition of power, just like in Yemen. But that's unlikely.

When I've asked SNC members about the poor representation of Kurds as a bloc in the Council, they usually reply by saying something like, "Well, we don't want to give the Kurds their own bloc as we see the SNC as a non-sectarian political entity. Kurds are fairly represented in strictly political groupings that reserved seats in the Council, such as the Damascus Declaration bloc and the Local Coordination Committees bloc." Is that just an excuse for exclusion, in your opinion?

Yes. It's not just about Kurds, however. Arabs, Druze, Ismailis, Alawites, Christians have been ignored by the SNC, which is responsible for these minorities failure to participate as united communities in the revolution. Also, if the SNC says that Local Coordination Committees are very active in the SNC, I'd like to add that the Committees have very little participation of Alawites and Druze; only the elites of these communities are involved in them.

In my opinion, Syrian Alawites would not accept working in a central government with Sunnis because the regime has succeeded in sowing fear amongst [Alawites].

This is why we ask for political de-centralization in Syria. The regime has succeeded in convincing minorities that any change would mean a new Islamic system coming to power and the rights of these minorities would be lost completely. In order for the SNC to convince minorities to take part in the revolution and hasten the fall of the regime, it must send a clear message to these minorities to participate. Transitioning to democracy in such a country is very difficult; it can't happen in one day. You have to give guarantees and assurances to each minority as these fit their rights and benefits.

You seem to be arguing that the Syrian opposition is doing the regime's propaganda work for it, by not convincing minorities of the multicultural nature of this revolution.

Yes, exactly. Let me give you an example. In Qamishli [a predominantly Kurdish city in Syria], Assyrians have formed a pro-democracy organization, however they can't gather even ten people to demonstrate in the Kurdish region. Why? Because the Church is playing a major role in turning Syrian Christians into shabbiha [pro-regime death squad] thugs for the sake for regime preservation.

The French ambassador to Syria has told me personally that he see loads of Christians every day telling him that their lives would be at risk if this regime changed. This is evidence that the SNC is still not able to be clear with other minorities to show their rights will be guaranteed.

The SNC is mainly focusing on things on the ground -- the number of people killed, how to topple the regime -- but not a political program to address the issue of minorities.

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By taking what concrete steps, apart from guaranteeing Kurdish rights as you already discussed?

The SNC should, in my opinion, keep in contact with all the minorities and be positive about their demands within the unity and integrity of Syria. For Christians, the [SNC should emphasize] freedom of religion. It should reassure Alawites, Ismailis and Druze that they are equal in belonging to Islam, they are not outsiders to the faith. There must be a very clear program for each and every ethnic group.

The current path is the one that Islamists are taking in the SNC, not the liberal representatives.

Are there enough liberal representatives in the SNC to alter its approach to the minorities question?

The liberals are not enough to influence the SNC. That's also our responsibility as Kurds. It's the international community's responsibility to pressure the SNC, and the Muslim Brotherhood, to guarantee the rights of minorities. And also -- most important -- for the international community to pressure Turkey not to take one side of the opposition over all others.

The Kurds are Syria's largest minority, larger even than the Alawites. Would it be fair to say that there is no Syrian revolution without their full and wholehearted participation?

We are more organized and recognized as a society within Syria and other Arab countries than other minorities. If we do participate more actively, other minorities will feel more assured and follow suit. The regime has tried to convince the world that the conflict is between them and the Arab Sunnis. We want to prove that wrong. The revolution is not sectarian but it is being threatened by sectarian interests.

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