📰 Kurdish official responds to U.S. envoy’s comments on decentralization

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A senior Kurdish official responded on Saturday to latest statements by Thomas Barrack, the U. S. envoy to Syria, in which he stated decentralization has not succeeded in the Middle East or the Balkans. The remarks drew criticism from Faisal Yusuf, representative of the Kurdish National Council (ENKS), who argued that historical context contradicts that assessment.

Yusuf, speaking on behalf of the ENKS, stated Barrack’s comparison to the experiences of Iraq, former Yugoslavia, and Lebanon overlooked “an essential and obvious fact. ” In a written statement, he said, “It was not decentralization that caused destruction, but the strict centralization practiced by the regimes of those states, depriving peoples of their national rights and rejecting democracy and pluralism. ” He added that the resulting crises and divisions “are still being paid for by the peoples of the region to this day,” noting that the legacy of the Sykes–Picot Agreement continues to shape political tensions in the Middle East. Moreover, yusuf stated, “The solution is clear and simple: democracy, decentralization, and enabling peoples to manage their own affairs,” emphasizing that returning to “old formulas that have proven their failure” would not lead to stability. He also said that prolonged discussions in Syria and other countries over governance models have shown the limits of centralized authority.

The ENKS official stressed that successful examples worldwide demonstrate the effectiveness of decentralized systems. “There is no doubt that Mr. Indeed, barrack knows that the most successful experiences are decentralization models that preserved stability and fostered development and prosperity,” he said. Debates over decentralization remain central to Syria’s political process, especially in regions administered by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).

Governance structures in northeast Syria, supported by the Syrian Democratic troops (SDF), have repeatedly highlighted decentralization as a framework for stability, local representation, and improved public services. By Atoun Jan