March 05, 2016•Update: March 06, 2016
By Kasim Ileri
WASHINGTON
The U.S. does not support autonomous regions in Syria but it would like a unified non-sectarian Syria, the State Department said Friday.
“If you're asking me, do we support some sort of semi- autonomous areas for the Kurds, the answer is ‘no’. We support a whole unified non-sectarian Syria. It's right there in black and white,” spokesman John Kirby said in response to being asked about Syrian Kurdish groups’ desire for a federalist state.
Kirby added that the U.S.’s position on the issue is clear.
Regarding reports that a majority of Syrians want President Bashar Assad to remain in power, Kirby said the Vienna communiques suggest the Syrians in the diaspora must be able to cast their votes in any election process.
“I think everybody realizes that if all of Syrians, diaspora as well to vote, there's very little chance that Mr. Assad is going to be able to stay in power,” he said.
