Kurdish-led SDF agrees to integrate with government forces
The country’s presidency said the Kurdish-led militia coalition that controls northeast Syria has agreed to an agreement to integrate all military and civilian institutions into the Syrian state.
The agreement says the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will cease hostilities and control control over border posts, airports and important oil and gas sectors in the region.
It also considers the Kurdish minority to be an “inclusive part of the Syrian state” and guarantees “the right of all Syrians to represent and participate in the political process.”
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi called the deal, which he signed with interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, which is “a real opportunity to build a new Syria”.
“We are committed to building a better future to ensure the rights of all Syrians and to realize their desire for peace and dignity,” he wrote on X on Monday night.
The deal is a major step towards Sharaa’s goal of uniting the broken country after his Sunni Islamic group led the rebel offensive.
The scale of the challenge has been clarified by recent violence in western Syria, with the assad loyalists attacking security forces sparking retaliation, with more than 1,000 civilians reportedly killed, most of whom are a minority of Assad’s Alavi sect members.
The deal could also reduce the SDF’s conflict with neighboring Turkey and Turkey-backed former Syrian rebel factions that allied with the government, which attempted to drive the alliance out of areas near the border.
The SDF has thousands of well-equipped and well-trained fighters that have not been in line with the Assad regime or the opposition during the 13-year civil war in the country.
It currently controls more than 46,000 square kilometers (18,000 square miles) of territory in the Northeast, and in 2019 it defeated the Islamic State (IS) group with the help of a U.S.-led coalition.
The SDF plays an important role in the autonomous management of Northern and Eastern Syria (AANES), which also ruled the Kurdish Rojava.
About 10,000 combatants were detained in the SDF operating prisons that spread throughout the region, with approximately 46,000 others associated with women and children being held in several camps.
Since the fall of Assad, the SDF has warned that attacks from Turkish-backed factions are forcing it to transfer combatants not to protect prisons and pave the way for a path.
The Turkish government regards the SDF, the Kurdish People’s Protection Force (YPG) as the largest militia among terrorist organizations. It said the YPG is an extension of the banned Workers’ Party of Kurdish (PKK) group that has carried out decades of rebellion in Türkiye, but the imprisoned leaders recently declared a ceasefire.
Türkiye did not immediately comment on Monday’s deal.
25 to 35 million Kurds live in a mountainous area, spanning the borders of Türkiye, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia. They constitute the fourth largest race in the Middle East, but they have never obtained a permanent country.
The Kurds in Syria make up about 10% of the population, were suppressed and fundamental rights denied during the Assad family’s rule.
