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’s many diverse peoples — including mine, the Kurds in the northeast — this remains a time of risk and anxiety.
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 multiethnic direct democracy.
Syria’s new interim Constitution doesn’t reflect this diversity. It doesn’t fully protect the rights of Syria’s minorities or women, and it declares that Islamic law is the source for all national law in a highly centralized state. This is a dangerous development. Syria’s 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.
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, achieved autonomy, in 2012. Also known by its Kurdish name, Rojava, the area makes up nearly one-third of Syria and is home to almost two million Kurds. But like the rest of Syria, it is also home to Arabs, Alawites, Armenians, Druse, Chechens and other ethnic groups. It includes many religions, with Shia and Sunni Muslims, Yazidis and a diverse range of Assyrian, Syriac, Chaldean and other ancient Christian traditions, as well as secularists.
Under our administration, ethnic groups are legally protected, and women are given a leading role 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.
Different communities have a say in our government through a power-sharing arrangement in which every administrative position — from local mayoralties to the executive council of the entire region — is jointly held by a man and a woman of different ethnicities. 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’s rights and more.
