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Damascus has slammed a tribal summit organized by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria calling it “a meeting of treason, treachery, and subjugation.”
An official source in Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on May 3 that the so-called “Syrian clans conference” was a failure as most Syrian clans boycotted it.
“The least that could be said about it is that it is a meeting of treason, treachery, and subjugation,” the official said.
He added that “such gatherings show without any doubt the treason of its organizers regardless of their political, ethnic, or racial affiliations, and that they do not express any of the true national components of Syria, in addition to confirming that these organizers are pursuing delusions that have been proven throughout history to be impossible to realize, especially during the final years of the terrorist war, regardless of how much foreign support they receive or how much they subjugate themselves to the US or others.”
The summit, which was held in the northern Syrian city of Ein Essa on May 2, was attended by senior officials of the SDF and many prominent figures affiliated with the US-led coalition.
During the summit, the SDF Commander-in-Chief, Ferhat Abdi Sahin, revealed that his group, which is dominated by Kurdish forces, is engaged in “indirect talks” with Turkey with the aim or reaching an agreement over the fate of northeastern Syria.
Sahin also stressed at the summit that there will be no agreement with Damascus unless it accepts to allow the SDF to maintain its independent forces. This condition that may have provoked the harsh response from the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
“A solution can be reached only by accepting the specificity of the SDF and their role in protecting this region in the future,” Sahin said.
These remarks have apparently sparked a new crisis between the SDF and the Damascus government. The government official warned the US-backed group’s leaders that accepting the dictations of the U.S. will bring them only “shame and disgrace.”
