ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Four Kurds were voted into Syria’s parliament on Sunday in the third such election since the start of the country’s long-standing conflict nine years ago. Bashar Assad's ruling Baath party predictably won a majority in the parliamentary elections, with 177 seats out of 250 in Sunday's polls, according to results announced by Syria's elections body on Tuesday. Despite several lists being allowed to run across the country, real opposition is absent from Syria’s parliament, with all candidates requiring vetting by security agencies prior to being put on the ballot. No polling took place in opposition-held Idlib province or the north’s autonomous Kurdish region. The elected Kurdish candidates largely come from the Syrian Communist Party, namely Amar Bakdash, Samir al-Eyubi, and Abdulrahman Khalil. The only Kurd from Assad's Baath party elected to parliament is Alan Bekir from Afrin. Following the election, Khalil told Rudaw on Wednesday night that he is working in parliament to ensure the rights of the country’s Kurdish minority. "Kurds are part of Syria. Their rights must be reflected in the Syrian constitution," he said. He is "seriously working to safeguard the Kurdish rights in the constitution," claims the parliamentarian, who is one of Hasaka province’s representatives. "Our Communist party is adamant that Kurdish cultural rights be preserved within the framework of Syria, and that all the nationalities must be the same in the eyes of the law," he added of his party's position. He says their ultimate goal is to expel the "occupying" foreign forces on Syrian soil. "The country as a whole is in pain. Syria and Qamishli suffer a similar pain. The biggest pain, that has been exacerbated, is the presence of the enemy forces, the occupying forces on our land, including American troops and Turkish occupying forces who are present in large parts of our country, the Israeli occupying forces," Khalil added. "The biggest pain is the presence of the occupying Turkish forces." "If we want good for Syria, we must all be united," Khalil stated. Turkey and its Syrian proxies launched a military operation against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria in October 2019, seizing control of a stretch of northern Syria, known to Kurds as Rojava, including Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) Gire Spi (Tal Abyad). Hundreds of thousands of civilians were displaced in the offensive. The military offensive, dubbed “Operation Peace Spring”, followed the March 2018 invasion of Afrin, in Aleppo province, which came under control of Turkish forces and their Syrian militia proxies following two months of intense fighting with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). Since then, human rights monitors have accused these groups of serious violations against locals. Of 19 million eligible voters in Syria just over 6.2 million cast a ballot, a significantly lower turnout than reported in the previous election. Turnout stood at 57 percent in 2016’s vote, according to electoral commission head Samer Zamreeq said on Tuesday, compared to 33% this year.
