Nobody wants another centralised regime in Syria, says Kurdish leader Salih Muslim Muhammad Premium

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham aims to establish a Salafi regime in Damascus, opposed by Syria's minorities, says Kurdish leader.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the jihadist group led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani (also known as Ahmed al-Sharaa) that captured power in Syria in December, wants to establish a Salafi regime in Damascus, but the country’s minorities are opposed to it, says Salih Muslim Muhammad, Syria’s main Kurdish leader. In an interview with The Hindu, Mr. Muslim, co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD)— the main party of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria— said the HTS was trying to establish another centralised regime in Damascus with a different ideology. The Kurdish people support a decentralised, democratic Syria, he said. He also spoke about the role of Turkey in the Kurdish question, the resurgence of the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Syrian Kurds’ ties with Israel. Edited excerpts.