The Co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council (MSD), stated that the council has plans to take actual steps aimed at revitalizing the “Syrian dialogue” through consultations with Syrian parties, regional powers, and international forces. He mentioned that MSD intends to open new representative offices in Arab and foreign countries.

In an interview with the Hawar News Agency today, Thursday, May 2nd, Mahmoud al-Meslat said that the MSD is intensifying its political movements in order to push the efforts towards a resolution despite the obstacles and challenges posed by some regional and international forces continuing to pursue their interests.

Starting from what al-Meslat called “the importance of the Arab role in Syria,” he considered that the council cannot be isolated from the “brotherly” Arab countries. He pointed out that the MSD has been communicating with countries such as Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, as a start to open up to these countries for “Syrian national reconciliation.”

He added that the MSD is working on expanding its relations with the Arab countries, as it owns offices and representative entities abroad, and is working on opening others, according to al-Meslat. He pointed out that MSD does not forget that there are Arab countries that have normalized relations with the Syrian regime, which was an obstacle for it. However, MSD is part of this state and this country, and must have an “external effectiveness” with the Arab countries.

“Normalizing with the regime does not mean not normalizing with us. We are working on opening our representations in the Gulf Cooperation Council and the brotherly Arab countries and some foreign countries. Our project is clear and is distinctly Syrian,” added al-Meslat.

The co-chair of MSD considered that some tracks related to Syria, such as the Constitutional Committee, have not accomplished anything. He considered that the Syrian Democratic Council (MSD) is “the hard number in the Syrian equation” and must be part of the constitutional process, as no solutions can be found without it.

He added that there are “external parties” striving hard to keep MSD away from any solutions and any conferences. He considered that he would not allow any country or party to keep him away from any Syrian solutions and mentioned that MSD represents all the Syrian components in northeastern Syria.

The Syrian Democratic Council is a political umbrella for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). It was established at the end of 2015, concurrently with the establishment of the SDF, gradually transforming into the political arm of the forces composed of an alliance of Arab, Kurdish, and Syriac factions, which received international support in their war against the Islamic State organization.

At the end of 2023, MSD elected Mahmoud al-Meslat and Layla Qaraman as co-presidents at its fourth conference in the city of Raqqa, with participation from representatives of the Autonomous Administration.

The new names carried features of change, where al-Meslat comes from a tribal background, and is the nephew of the former president of the opposition’s Syrian National Coalition Salem al-Meslat (supported by Turkey). At the same time, he was residing in the United States and has good relations with the Americans.