Politics

US officials meet with SDC leader in Washington

The US Embassy in Syria said in a tweet that the US officials met with Ahmed “to reaffirm U.S. support for stability in northeast Syria, continued assistance in areas liberated from ISIS, and a political solution that includes all Syrians.”

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2021/09/29 11:13

US officials met with a SDC delegation on Monday in Washington, Sept 29, 2021 (Photo: US Embassy Syria).

Syria Ilham Ahmed SDF KNC SDC

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Ilham Ahmed, President of the SDC (Syrian Democratic Council) Executive Committee, met with Joey Hood, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and Ethan A. Goldrich. Deputy Assistant Secretary Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs during a visit to Washington on Monday.

PDAS Joey Hood and DAS Ethan Goldrich met Monday with @ElhamAhmadSDC, President of the SDC Executive Committee, to reaffirm U.S. support for stability in northeast Syria, continued assistance in areas liberated from ISIS, and a political solution that includes all Syrians. pic.twitter.com/1Ubk6VAxHx
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) September 29, 2021

Ahmed, in a seminar hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, on Monday said she expects more support from the US administration and the US public due to the “threats, and the challenges we face in the region, because this region represents a very important project, and we believe that we are partners with the US.”

Delegations from both the Kurdish National Council (KNC), which is part of a larger Syrian opposition delegation, and the SDC-linked Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) are in the US to lobby for their respective causes.

The KNC was part of meetings with the UN, US, Turkish and other officials in New York during the 76th United Nations General Assembly. On Monday, they met Richard M. Mills, the US Deputy Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations.

Al Monitor reported that the opposition delegation will also meet US officials in Washington DC in the near future.

Separately, a delegation of the AANES also arrived in Washington DC last week. White House officials reportedly promised the delegation on Friday that they will continue to support the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the SDC said in a press statement.

“The meetings were positive and expressive of Washington’s support for the ‘SDC’ as well as the meetings members praised the efforts of ‘SDF’ for the fight against terrorism, stressing at the same time the continuation of their partnership,” the SDC statement said.

“In parallel, other meetings were held with prominent members of the US Congress, such as the Representative Schneider, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, who works in the Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Global Counter-Terrorism,” it added.

The KNC, which is part of the Turkey-based Syrian Arab opposition, has been locked in several political disputes with the local administration of Syria’s northern Kurdish-held areas, led by the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

On Friday, they organized protests against the administration over high fuel prices.

The two parties previously held talks for several months in an initiative supported by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in 2020 to resolve their long-standing disputes.

However, since the 2020 US presidential elections, the talks have been suspended. US officials have recently held separate meetings with both sides and underlined continued support for the intra-Kurdish dialogue.

Acting Assistant Secretary of State Joey Hood in early September talked to both the KNC and parties linked to the PYD and “urged all parties to engage in direct talks to build shared solutions to the problems that the people of northeast Syria are facing.”