Syria at a Crossroads: Call for Peace and Unity

The fall of the dictatorial and criminal Assad regime puts an end to years of oppression, imprisonment, torture, and killings of his political adversaries. That is why Assad’s fall was celebrated by the democratic forces in Syria, including the Kurdish forces. However, the victory of heterogeneous Islamist and jihadist forces does not safeguard a democratic future for the country and instead carries the danger of a new phase of conflicts and persecutions, especially against ethnic and religious minorities in Syria, particularly the Kurdish people and the autonomous region of Rojava.

Syria must not become a fragmented and failed state like Libya, destabilizing the whole region. Therefore, we should all demand that the territorial unity of Syria is preserved and the partition of the country between Turkey, Israel or the US must be prevented. It is only the Syrian people who have the right to decide the future of the country without any foreign interference.

It should be remembered that the international community has the moral and legal obligation to ensure respect for the human rights of the entire Syrian population, regardless of religion or ethnicity.

Moreover, as President of the Party of the European Left, I firmly believe that the key to peace and stability in the wider Middle East is the resolution of the Palestinian issue. As long as the Palestinian conflict remains unresolved and the bloodshed in Gaza continues, the chances of a generalized destabilization of the already fragile balance in the wider region increase.