(Reuters) -- Syrian Kurdish groups and their allies are expected to approve a blueprint for a system of federal government in northern Syria this week, Kurdish officials said, reaffirming their plans for autonomy as Russia and Turkey seek to revive diplomacy.
The aim is to cement the autonomy of areas of northern Syria where Kurdish groups have already carved out self-governing regions since the start of the war in 2011, though Kurdish leaders say an independent state is not the goal.
Increasing Kurdish influence in northern Syria has alarmed neighbouring Turkey, while the United States also opposed the federal plan first announced in March. President Bashar al-Assad also opposes federalism.
The blueprint amounts to a constitution, known as the social contract, and is expected to be approved on Wednesday or Thursday at a meeting of a 151-member council in the city of Rmeilan, according to Hadiya Yousef, who chairs the council.
"I expect ratification because we have discussed the content with all groups and political sides repeatedly, and the draft was worded with consensus," she said in a written message to Reuters.
"We will clarify through the contract ... the means for starting the formation of our institutions and administrative system, and we will start preparations for elections," she added. The first elections would be to regional administrations, to be followed by an election to a central body.
The council, a constituent assembly which officials say includes members of all the main political, ethnic and religious groups in the area, began meeting on Tuesday.
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