Our Work

Our work can be roughly divided into three phases.

The first phase in 2016 brought together members of the Kurdish National Council in Syria (KNC), an association of around a dozen Syrian-Kurdish parties, primarily to discuss the future of the Kurdish areas in a future Syrian state.

During the second project phase in 2017,  representatives and members of other ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities within Syria such as Assyrians and Turkmens were invited to attend the workshops alongside members of the KNC.

In the third project phase, beginning in September 2018, the workshops were opened up to Syrians from all ethnic, religious and linguistic groups. The particular focus is on potential candidates for the Syrian Constitutional Committee convened by the UN.

Capacity building

As part of our work, we organize capacity building and dialogue workshops.

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Policy advice

Our advisory board supports members of the SCC to develop common political positions.

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Transparency

We provide information on the Syrian constitutional committee, its work, and its members.

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Capacity building and dialogue workshops

The European Center for Kurdish Studies regularly organizes workshops on constitutional law and the writing of a constitution with members of the Syrian opposition and Syrian civil society.

In numerous dialogue workshops held in cities like Geneva, Erbil, Istanbul, Bucharest, Athens, Berlin, Malta and Sarajevo over hundred people have engaged with increasingly detailed issues of constitutional law concerning the creation of a democratic Syria. The results of these discussions are summed up in our workshop papers. The points established during one workshop were often taken as the basis for discussions in another. Therefore, most of the papers build on one another in terms of content. This, however, does not mean that all participants agreed with all points in the papers.

Geneva 2016
In this workshop, members of the Kurdish National Council discussed political decentralization, federalism and local governance together with experts such as the constitutional lawyer Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Belser and the political scientist Dr. Soeren Keil.
read the discussion paper
Erbil 2016
The Kurdish National Council members deepened their understanding of the separation of powers and approaches to federalism. The education system was particularly focused on.
read the discussion paper
Istanbul I 2017
Former findings on federalism by the Kurdish National Council were discussed with other Syrian opposition representatives like the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces (Etilaf) and the Syrian Negotiations Commission.
read the discussion paper
Istanbul II 2017
Representatives of Syrian ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities discussed their needs, wishes and fears. The diversity of perspectives enabled the individual groups to deepen their understanding of one another.
read the discussion paper
Istanbul III 2017
Syrian ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities discussed crucial topics for drawing up a constitution: systems of government, the composition of parliament, judicial independence, division of powers, financial resources, and territorial borders.
read the discussion paper
Bucharest 2018
The Bucharest workshop discussed and determined inviolable principles that have to be mentioned in a new constitution. These were a democracy, rule of law and protection of human rights.
read the discussion paper
Sarajevo 2019
In Sarajevo, it seemed necessary to take another look at the fundamental principles underpinning the constitution. Participants once again asked themselves why sharing state power is essential and what forms such power-sharing could take.
read the discussion paper
Loccum 2019
The substantive focus was the issue of how to draw regional borders and divide powers between the central, regional and municipal government. Several former Syrian judges took part in the meeting and shared their professional expertise.
read the discussion paper
Erbil 2020
Representatives of the Assyrian Democratic Organization and the Assyrian Democratic Party along with delegates from the Kurdish National Council discussed what they had in common with respect to their vision for a democratic federal Syria.
Caux 2020
In Caux the main topic was fiscal decentralization, i.e. the allocation and distribution of taxes and financial transfers. Participants discussed how this could materialize in the Syrian context.
read the discussion paper
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Keynote speakers and experts

Our capacity-building and dialogue workshops are held on different topics related to constitutional law and decentralization. To each workshop or webinar, we invite experts who provide academic and professional input to our participants and discussions.

Prof. Eva Maria Belser

Expertise

Constitutionalist and expert on federalism, decentralization, national and international human rights, minority rights, democracy and international development cooperation
Dr. Nael Georges

Expertise

Law, human rights and interreligious dialogues
Dr. Soeren Keil

Expertise

Political scientist and expert on federalism, power-sharing, conflict resolution and minority rights
Prof. Nico Steytler

Expertise

Multilevel government, law and development
Prof. Georg Milbradt

Expertise

Political economy, transformation and reform processes, minorities
Prof. Michael Burgess †

Expertise

Comparative federalism, Canadian constitutional politics, British tradition of federalism, European Union and European Integration
Dr. Jihad Yazigi

Expertise

Syrian economy, business, reconstruction
Dr. Carsten Wieland

Expertise

Expert for intra-Syrian talks who worked for three UN special envoys
Prof. Neophyfos Loizides

Expertise

International conflict analysis, political institution-building within violently divided societies, electoral systems or power-sharing mechanisms
Prof. Francesco Palermo

Expertise

Comparative public law, comparative federalism, local self-administration, constitutional law

Advisory Board​

Our Advisory Board supports in particular members of the Small Group of the Constitutional Committee to anchor minority rights as an important part of human rights in the constitution. We want to build bridges between the different members of the opposition and representatives of civil society. Moreover, we want to support them in developing mutual positions regarding power-sharing, minority rights and women’s rights.

Transparency

A new Syrian constitution only has a chance if it is accepted by the Syrian population. Having access to information is the precondition for acceptance: It is important to know which topics are currently being negotiated in the constitutional committee. This is where we see our job.

We report regularly on the negotiations in Geneva. And organize webinars with members of the Constitutional Committee. Our webinars are open to anyone interested in the matter and everyone is welcome to ask questions, to express criticism or to make suggestions. We also offer background information on topics that determine the constitutional process in the broadest sense:

Decentralization, human rights, quotas, different systems of government, elections or the rule of law.