Îlham Ehmed (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: إلهام أحمد), also rendered as Îlham Ahmed, is a Syrian politician from the Democratic Union Party currently serving as the co-president of the Executive Council of the

Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, ...

(Rojava) and member of the executive committee of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) coalition. Until July 2018, she was a co-chair of the

Syrian Democratic Council The Syrian Democratic Council ( ku, Meclîsa Sûriya Demokratîk, MSD; ar, مجلس سوريا الديمقراطية; syc, ܡܘܬܒܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܐ ܕܝܡܩܪܛܝܬܐ, translit=Mawtbo d'Suriya Demoqraṭoyto) is the political wing of the Syri ...

(SDC), a political wing of the

Syrian Democratic Forces , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svgborder , caption = Flag , active = 10 October 2015 – present , ideology = DemocracyDecentralizationSecularism ...

that acts as the legislature for Rojava.

Life and career

An ethnic Kurd born in Afrin, Ehmed has been outspoken on the aim of a programmatically

polyethnic Polyethnicity, alternatively 'polyethnics'' and also pluriethnicity or multiethnicity, (from prefixes wikt:poly-, poly-, pluri-, wikt:multi-, multi- / all designating plurality), refers to specific cultural phenomena that are characterized by so ...

character of a future Syria. At the start of the second Raqqa campaign in November 2016, she said:

Such an administration could provide a good example for democratic change in
Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) ( Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, ...
, especially that the city has been for years a de facto capital for the
ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...
terrorist group. This accomplishment would be a major change in the overall situation in Syria, and would help the country move towards stability, democratic change.
Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) ( Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, ...
will be an example for the whole country.

Having been involved with the Kurdish nationalist movement since the 1990s, Ehmed seeks have a decentralized government in the form of a federalized Syria. She claims that local civilian councils and governments would emerge in Syrian Kurdistan in such a decentralized state that guarantee the rights of different Syrian groups, including

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

, and

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

. She advocates for the rights of the Kurdish people to be guaranteed in the

Syrian constitution The current Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic was adopted on 26 February 2012, replacing one that had been in force since 13 March 1973. The current constitution delineates the basic function of that state's government. Among other things, ...

. Ehmed took part in negotiations with the Syrian government in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

concerning services that shall be provided also in the areas governed by the SDC in July 2018.

Negotiations with France

After both Turkey's threat to attack Afrin and U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's declaration that the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

would withdraw its troops from the territories governed by the SDC in December 2018, Ehmed travelled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

with SDC co-chair

Riad Darar Riad Hammoud Darar ( ar, رياض حمود دارار, born 1954) is a Syrian opposition political and social activist and author from Deir ez-Zor. He was a proponent of human rights for Kurds in Syria since 2000. During his activism, he was i ...

to talk with the

French government The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

about further cooperation with the French troops stationed in the areas governed by the SDC. This left Ehmed and the SDC vulnerable to an attack from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

on Northeastern Syria. French troops would remain in Syria following negotiations with France.

References

External links

Interview with ''Al-Monitor'' (December 2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ehmed, Îlham Democratic Union Party (Syria) politicians Living people People of the Syrian civil war Year of birth missing (living people) Kurdish politicians Socialist rulers