GENEVA, Switzerland – The representative of the Syrian regime at peace talks in Geneva told Rudaw that Damascus would show zero tolerance for any claim of federation or autonomy by the country’s Kurdish minority. Bashar Jaafari, Syria’s UN envoy and its top man at the Geneva peace talks, ruled out the idea of federalism as an option for governing post-war Syria. “Take the idea of separating Syrian land out of your mind,” he said, adding that “anyone thinking of departing Syria” should be cured of the illusion. “We have said before our theme for these talks is Syrians in Syria and our precondition is to protect the unity of the land and Syrian nation,” Jaafari said. “It is to protect sovereignty of Syria. This is very clear and we have this principle in all the 13 decisions discussed by the Security Council.” Syria’s Kurdish region, or Rojava, has been a de facto autonomous region in the country’s north since 2013, when the Kurdish PYD group that governs it declared self-rule. The meeting in Geneva is another attempt by the UN to bring a resolution to the nearly five-year Syrian civil war and alleviate the impact of the government’s bombing and blockades that are starving Syrian civilians.
