Damascus announces deal to integrate SDF into state institutions
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The transitional Syrian government announces that a deal had been reached with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate the latter into Syrian state institutions.
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Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces pose for a portrait at a checkpoint in the northeastern city of Hassakeh, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 (AP)
The Syrian presidency announced on Monday evening that an agreement had been reached to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the country’s state institutions.
According to the interim presidency, executive committees will implement the agreement by the end of the year. The deal aims to address key issues to ensure the rights of all Syrian citizens and maintain the unity of the country.
Key Provisions of the Agreement:
- A nationwide ceasefire across all Syrian territories.
- Ensuring the rights of all Syrians in state institutions based on merit, regardless of religious background.
- Recognizing the Kurdish community as an integral part of the Syrian state, with full citizenship rights and constitutional protections.
- Guaranteeing the right of all Syrians to political representation and participation.
- Integrating all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria under state administration, including border crossings, airports, and oil and gas fields.
- Facilitating the return of all displaced Syrians while ensuring their protection by the state.
- Supporting the Syrian state in its efforts to combat remnants of the previous regime and all threats to national security and unity.
- Rejecting calls for partition, hate speech, and any attempts to sow discord among Syria’s diverse communities.
Last month, Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, urged his group to dissolve and end its over four-decade-long armed conflict against Turkiye. However, Ankara demanded that all PKK fighters be disarmed wherever they are, including those within the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), whose core consists of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
While the SDF leadership welcomed Öcalan’s February 27 call for the PKK to disband, they stated that it did not apply to their forces.
Tensions between SDF and Turkiye escalated further when Turkish drones targeted their positions in al-Hasakah on February 26, as Ankara vows to continue military operations against the Syria Democratic Forces, which it deems an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Turkish police arrested 282 members of the PKK in police raids over five days, according to an Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya statement on February 18, as Ankara intensified its efforts to remove elected pro-Kurdish mayors and a crackdown on the Kurdish party aiming to end the 40-year-long conflict between the two sides.
