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Summary
Sherkoh Abbas, President Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria.

Dr. Sherkoh Abbas was born in Qamishli, located in the Kurdistan Region of Syria, where he is a prominent leader of the Kurdish Dorkian tribe. His extensive experience as a Kurdish-American human rights activist spans over three decades of building relationships with key Kurdish political and civic leaders in addition to other Syrian Arab and non- Arab opposition groups, thus unifying diverse peoples with a common goal. Dr. Abbas is a founding member of the Syrian Democracy Council, of the Kurdish National Congress, of the America-Kurdistan Friendship League, and of the Center for Democracy in the Middle East. He served as President of the Kurdish-American Committee for Democracy in Syria. A sought-after expert, he has given testimony and briefings to the US Congress and the White House on the humanitarian crisis during the Syrian civil war, and testified at a joint session on terrorism conducted by the EU Parliament and the US Congress. He periodically organizes conferences on human rights with the EU Parliament and US Congress. He also frequently provides expert commentary to global media outlets from Fox News to the Jerusalem Post. Dr. Abbas supports Kurdish self-determination, manifest as a completely independent Kurdistan in Iraq and, tentatively, a Federated Kurdistan in Syria; he is anti-Sharia and, thus, opposes radical Islamist groups such as the Islamic State. He believes a united Syrian Kurdish movement is the only path to freedom, democracy and federalism in Syria for Kurds and non-Kurd Syrians alike.