federalization of Syria
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The federalization of Syria has been controversially proposed as a possible solution to end the Syrian Civil War. In the broadest sense, it means turning the centralized
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
into a
federal republic A federal republic is a federation of Federated state, states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means a country that is governed by elected re ...
with autonomous subdivisions. Many powers and actors involved in the Syrian Civil War have entertained the idea of "federal division", not least among them
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
representatives, the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. Bashar al-Assad has publicly rejected the idea of federalism, asserting that the Arab majority in Syria is opposed to such proposals. Most of the neighbouring countries in the region have also dismissed the proposal, including the members of the
Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...
and
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. Due to the fact that federalization would more or less follow ethnic and possibly also religious-sectarian lines, it has been dismissed as "division of the country" and " Balkanization" by its opponents. Most factions of the Syrian opposition, such as the Syrian National Council and the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, have consistently rejected the idea of federalization. On the other hand, Kurdish opposition parties have strongly promoted the idea. The
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
-based opposition party Syria's Tomorrow Movement takes an intermediate position.


Timeline during the Syrian Civil War

On 17 March 2016, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria was unilaterally declared a federation of autonomous cantons modelled after the
cantons of Switzerland The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...
; Afrin Canton, Jazira Canton and Kobanî Canton, as well as the Shahba region. The federation is considered by its protagonists to be a model for Syria as a whole. The move was dismissed by the Syrian government and disapproved of by Turkey and the United States. In September 2016, the Secretary-General of the
Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...
, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, came out in an interview as one of the first regional politicians taking a public stand for the federalization of Syria. He said that the establishment of a federal system in Syria would "guarantee to preserve the institutions and unity" and that a federal system would be "the most appropriate solution and will protect the country from destruction." In October 2016, a Russian initiative for federalization with a focus on northern Syria was reported, which at its core called for the existing institutions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to be recognised by the Syrian government, which rejected the call. After multilateral peace talks in Astana in January 2017, Russia offered a draft for a future constitution of Syria, which would inter alia turn the "Syrian Arab Republic" into the "Republic of Syria", introduce decentralized authorities as well as elements of federalism like "association areas", strengthen the parliament at the cost of the presidency, and realize
secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...
by abolishing Islamic jurisprudence as a source of legislation. The same month,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said that "implementation of a Dayton style accord in Syria and introduction of some form of a federal solution in Syria (...) may indeed be the right way forward or the only way forward in the end of all this."


Historical antecedents

During the French mandate, Syria was subdivided into various autonomous entities, most of which bore the designation " state" (in French ''État''; in Arabic ''Dawlat''): * the State of the Alawites * the Province of Jazira * the Jabal Druze State (originally called the State of Souaida) * the
State of Aleppo The State of Aleppo (; ') was one of the six states that were established by the France, French High Commissioner of the Levant, General Henri Gouraud (French Army officer), Henri Gouraud, in the Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, French Mandate of ...
* the State of Damascus * the State of Greater Lebanon * the State of Hatay (originally called the Sanjak of Alexandretta) * the State of Syria These autonomous entities did not correspond to the
administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...
of Ottoman Syria. France ceded
Hatay Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, ...
to Turkey in 1939, and
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
became an independent state (separate from the rest of Syria) in 1945.


See also

* Constitution of Syria * Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria *
Ethnic groups in Syria Arabs represent the major ethnicity in Syria, in addition to the presence of several, much smaller ethnic groups. Ethnicity, religion and national/ideological identities Ethnicity and religion are intertwined in Syria as in other countries in ...
* Regions of Rojava * Religion in Syria * Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian Civil War * Syrian Democratic Forces * Syrian peace process


Notes


References


External links

* * * * * * * * {{cite journal, last1=Khaddour, first1=K., last2=Mazur, first2=K., year=2013, title=The Struggle for Syria's Regions, journal=Middle East Report, volume=43, pages=269– Decentralization * Politics of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Politics of the Syrian civil war Subdivisions of Syria Syrian peace process