ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Leaders of four Syrian Kurdish parties met in Erbil on Thursday in an effort to establish a united front to help move forward their struggle in Syria.
The party representatives said that the person to lead this new front should be based in and chosen among leaders already in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), rather than someone who is outside the country.
The move was to unite the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDPS), the Kurdistan Union Party and two factions of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (Azadi).
Around 620 members and representatives of these groups attended the meeting at Erbil’s Saad Abdullah venue.
Though the media were kept out of the venue, Rudaw has learned that the former leaders of the four groups had been relieved of any leadership roles, and are to be replaced by new elected leaders.
The Kurdish areas of Syria have been largely under Kurdish control for the past two years and have remained largely neutral in the war between the opposition and the regime of Bashar Assad.
However, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) is currently the dominant Kurdish party in these areas. Other Kurdish groups, such as the four who gathered in Erbil on Thursday, claim they are not allowed to have an active role in Rojava.
The decision at the Erbil meeting to have leaders of the new front and their offices on the ground in Rojava acknowledges PYD criticism blaming the smaller Kurdish groups themselves for staying in exile and yet wanting to have a say in the affairs of Rojava.
It is said that the four parties would merge under the KDPS, and 250 members of the conference intend to fill 51 leadership positions that the new party is set to have; 110 of the nominees are among current senior leaders of these parties.
The Erbil meeting was not without some disagreements among party representatives. Some officials believed leaders of the new party should be elected by the members of the former groups than by the new congress. They also were opposed to the condition that the new leaders would be based in Rojava.
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