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Salih Muslim

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Our goal is the formation of a new Kurdish society, the formation of a free person, a person with free will and free thought.

Salih Muslim Muhammad (3 March 1951 – 11 March 2026) was a Syrian Kurdish politician, who served as the co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the leading party of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES). He was the deputy coordinator of the left-wing Syrian opposition's National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, and the most prominent Kurdish representative during the Syrian civil war.

Quotes

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2011

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  • There are some who hold up the slogan: the fall of the regime. In contrast we demand the fall of the oppressive authoritarian system. Our problems are not problems of powers. The ruling powers in Damascus come and go. For us Kurds, this isn't so important. What is important is that we Kurds assert our existence. The current regime does not accept us, nor do those who will potentially come into power. Our politics differ from a politics that seeks power.
    • Interview by KurdWatch, 20 October 2011 – quoted by Harriet Allsopp, The Kurds of Syria: Political Parties and Identity in the Middle East, London: I.B. Tauris, 2014, p. 209.
  • We are profiting from the unrest. It is a historical chance for us. We have a right and are making use of it. We do not kill anyone and we also do not fight against anyone. We are preparing our people and ourselves for the period after the fall of the regime.
    • Interview by KurdWatch, 20 October 2011 – quoted by Harriet Allsopp, The Kurds of Syria: Political Parties and Identity in the Middle East, London: I.B. Tauris, 2014, p. 209.
  • We, as the Kurdish Freedom Movement, … reject classical models like federalism, con-federalism, self-government, and autonomy. Our goal is the formation of a new Kurdish society, the formation of a free person, a person with free will and free thought. … The point is to renew society from the bottom up.
    • Interview by KurdWatch, 20 October 2011 – quoted by Michael Gunter, Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War, London: C. Hurst & Co., 2014, p. 109.
  • We consider anyone who does not publicly take a stand against the Turkish position to be one of Turkey's henchmen.
    • Interview by KurdWatch, 20 October 2011 – quoted by Michael Gunter, Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War, London: C. Hurst & Co., 2014, p. 109.

2013

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  • Russia has recently been very vocal about the vicious crimes against us, but the US and Europe have not even condemned atrocities against civilian Kurds! Why are they ignoring attacks of these al-Qaeda related jihadists? … Everybody in Syria received international aid, but not us, the Kurds! On the contrary, we are under an embargo from all around.
  • I do not know … why American officials are not willing to meet with us. … We have never had any animosity against America and the American people. Quite the opposite, we see our future in Western democracy, and we are trying to implement it in our own society. … The United States is the cradle of democracy and the American people support freedom for everyone. … There is no doubt that the interests of the American people are not contrary to ours.

2014

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  • Until now, PYD members were jailed, captured and many of them killed by torture. If [the Assad government] calls for the Kurds, the Kurds cannot trust them. Actually, they have called us many times to have separate discussions. … The regime and the Salafists are the same. We don't believe that one of them is better than the others.
  • We are not a small people; 15% of the population are Kurds. As you know, we can protect ourselves even from the regime and extremists. So we have to have a word in the solution. If they ignore the Kurds, they will not find a way to solve the Syrian problem. … Because the coalition [i.e. the Syrian National Coalition] doesn't recognize the Kurds, they cannot represent the Kurds [in the Geneva peace talks], only the coalition.
  • Within one half-hour, we can stop all Kurdish forces and they will obey this, but for those groups [i.e. armed factions represented by the Syrian National Coalition] it is not true.
  • Drawing and dying for borders is a European illness from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
    • Speech at the Flemish Parliament in Brussels, 18 September 2014 – quoted by Joost Jongerden, "The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK): Radical Democracy and the Right to Self-Determination Beyond the Nation-State", in The Kurdish Question Revisited, ed. Gareth Stansfield and Mohammed Shareef, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017, p. 246.

2016

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  • The [democratic Syrian] federalism we talk about is not a geographical line. Maybe tomorrow it's going to be expanded to Raqqa, and other places. … Maybe even the people of Daraa will join.
    • Interview by Wladimir van Wilgenburg, "This is a new Syria, not a new Kurdistan", Middle East Eye, 21 March 2016 – quoted by Harriet Allsopp and Wladimir van Wilgenburg, The Kurds of Northern Syria: Governance, Diversity and Conflicts, London: I.B. Tauris, 2019, p. 83.
  • We think of a democratic nation or democratic state, they [i.e. the Syrian National Coalition-affiliated Kurdish National Council] are still looking for a nation-state, which is different. We accept pluralism for living together with Arabs and other components [i.e. ethnic groups]. They are calling for a nation-state for the Kurdish people. They cannot accept Arabs and other minorities.
    • Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies interview, 26 May 2016 – quoted by Harriet Allsopp and Wladimir van Wilgenburg, The Kurds of Northern Syria: Governance, Diversity and Conflicts, London: I.B. Tauris, 2019, pp. 82–83.
  • If they [i.e. the US-backed Syrian Islamist opposition] accept to live in a secular country, in which everyone can express themselves, it's OK. We believe religion should be on the ethical side, not more than that. Religion should not be used as a tool for politics, which is not valid for the Muslim Brotherhood because they are looking to establish a caliphate. They should keep religion in the church and the mosque.

2020

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  • Before [Öcalan] left Syria, we came together as a whole and discussed our situation. The formation of the PYD is, in fact, a result of this. Öcalan was trying to develop a strategic relationship between the Syrian regime and the Kurds in Rojava. However, the Syrian regime lacked the understanding and capacity to do so. If they had understood him, the situation in Syria today could be different. If they had listened to his suggestions and ideas, we could have seen a different Syria.

2021

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2024

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  • We were looking for a movement that would answer our questions and analyze the experiences of the Kurds. While we were [still] young, I learned from the [Kurdistan Workers' Party] cadres that the movement we were looking for had formed.
  • They [i.e. the Syrian transitional government] say they want to enter into dialogue with all components [i.e. ethnic groups] in Syria. That is precisely why we are seeking contact with them. … We already have twelve years of experience living peacefully with all communities, so we can and want to help the transitional government. … We are not separatists. We want to help build the new Syria.
    • Hisham Arafat and Fréderike Geerdink, "Geen kant op" (in Dutch), De Groene Amsterdammer, 21 December 2024.

2025

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  • Mr. Abdullah Öcalan firmly believes that political action is the best path forward. We align with this stance because in North and East Syria, we carried weapons only to defend ourselves. If the attacks against us stop, we will lay down our arms—we are not war enthusiasts.

2026

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  • The leadership blocked this new plot through agreements and warnings, particularly about the risk of 'new Gazas' and the need for caution in Rojava.

Quotes about Muslim

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