Syrian Federalization Premature Until Terrorists Routed - Kurdish Official

It is premature to talk of federalizing the whole of Syria until terrorists have been driven out of all areas of the country, a representative of the Kurdistan National Congress said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and allied groups in several areas under Kurdish control announced the creation of what has been called the Democratic System of Rojava and Northern Syria (Rojava). Around 200 delegates converged in the town of Rmeilan to declare the decision.

"For now, federalization has been declared in one part of the country, it is early to speak about federalizing other parts of the country as long as most of these [area] are controlled by Islamic State [Daesh]. The issue can only be discussed once these territories have been liberated from terrorists," Selahattin Soro said.

The Kurds support the wider federalization of Middle Eastern countries, and expect the United States and Russia to support the process, the representative of Rojava's Moscow office, which is the region's first foreign mission, added.

Rojava's proclamation, which has so far been rejected by Damascus, comes amid resumed Syrian peace talks in Geneva. Moscow has stated that unilateral decisions on Syria's future should not be taken in the course of the peace process. No Kurdish representatives have been invited to the reconciliation talks, with Turkey strongly opposed to their participation.