The Syrian people consist of numerous national and sectarian components, which necessitates constitutional acknowledgment of the cultural rights of all these groups. This diversity is among the issues that must be recognized to find solutions, especially after the previous regime’s 54-year-long efforts to exploit these divisions to maintain its grip on power and perpetuate its rule, by stripping Syrians of their citizenship and turning them into subjects.

Furthermore, the fourteen years of revolution have revealed the fragmentation of the national fabric, emphasizing the need to transition into a legal environment in the new Syria that guarantees rights for all components of the Syrian people. This entails rebuilding the Syrian state based on constitutional legitimacy and societal consensus, rooted in democracy and human rights, with recognition of multiculturalism and sectarian diversity, and fostering interaction among all components to serve liberty, progress, civil peace, and peaceful coexistence.

The final statement of the "Unity of Kurdish Position and Front" conference, which calls for decentralization without specifying its content—whether political or administrative, whether on a geographic or ethnic basis—indicates that there is a crisis of national components threatening the foundations of peaceful coexistence and the prospects for maintaining Syrian land unity, even obstructing the emergence of a unified Syrian identity. In this context, it is not new to assert that the Kurdish issue is one of the most problematic aspects of the overall Syrian identity. This stems from the previous regime’s propaganda that Kurdish existence in Syria is temporary, claiming most Kurds arrived from Turkey and settled in northeastern Syria.

This perception has led to a misguided political view that Kurds are alien to the Syrian fabric, exemplified by the deprivation of tens of thousands of Kurds from Syrian citizenship. Thus, the concept of “Kurdish independence phobia” has prevailed: whenever a Syrian Kurd demands even the slightest rights, they are accused of secessionism and deemed to seek splitting the country or seizing part of it. Undoubtedly, linking the Kurdish issue with political decentralization aims to further confuse the situation and complicate the Syrian crisis.

Since concepts are products of a social reality characterized by diversity, the question in the Syrian context remains: Can we talk about the right to self-determination for the components of the Syrian people spread across several provinces with no geographic continuity between their areas? Especially considering the collision of two fundamental reference principles in modern political thought—based on international law (UN General Assembly Resolution 2625 of November 24, 1970), which grants the right to self-determination to peoples, not to ethnic or sectarian groups within a country—aiming to maintain regional unity within recognized borders. If all components demand separation based on their history and culture, this would mean the disintegration of existing states.

Diversity within a state entails two possibilities: first, an opportunity for cultural richness that contributes to progress and prosperity; second, a source of tension and conflict, weakening the state and making it prone to explosion and division. Here, the manner of leading the transitional phase—how to manage the state—is a key factor in favoring one possibility over the other. A leadership that aims to protect diversity within the framework of unity and guarantees individual freedoms, public rights, and equality before the law can turn diversity into a strength, utilizing the potentials of all components for development, progress, and prosperity.

Thus, the national and sectarian rights of Syria's components are rooted in the fundamental principles outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Recognition of the inherent dignity and equal rights of all members of the human family." Protecting these rights depends on establishing a state of law and justice.

The matter remains linked to its practices, as exclusion and political and social discrimination—based on nationalist and sectarian mobilization—such as what happened with our Alawite brothers in the coast and the Druze in Jaramana and Saydnaya, pave the way for internal conflicts. Conversely, positive behavior by the authorities toward all citizens can be an asset that enriches and advances the state and society as a whole.

In this way, the national and sectarian rights of Syria’s components are based on the core principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Recognition of the inherent dignity and equal rights of all members of the human family," and the guarantee of these rights lies in establishing a state of law and justice. Based on these rights, the transitional phase in Syria must recognize diversity among its components, ensure their rights according to the international human rights standards, and respect their cultural rights, anchored in the following foundations:

The Syrian national bond, forged through a shared historical experience over more than a century, reinforced by the struggle for national independence and joint efforts to build a modern nation-state, and the collective fight against authoritarian regimes, allows viewing Syrians as one people, maintaining the unity of the land through equal citizenship rights and duties, supporting reconstruction, and preventing internal conflict, while securing the cohesion of Syrians regardless of their ethnicity and affiliations.

Abdullah Turkmani