SDF controls a lot of northeastern Syria, and has held out in opposition to management from Damascus for years.
Syria says that it has reached an settlement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to combine the latter with state establishments.
The Syrian presidency made the announcement on Monday and launched photos of a signing ceremony that includes the Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the top of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi.
The settlement emphasised the unity of Syria, and stipulated that “all civil and army establishments in northeastern Syria” be merged “into the administration of the Syrian state, together with border crossings, the airport, and oil and gasoline fields”.
The US-backed SDF has managed a semi-autonomous area in northeastern Syria since 2015.
The settlement, if applied, would convey that territory underneath the complete management of the Syrian central authorities.
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from the Syrian capital Damascus, mentioned that the deal is without doubt one of the most main developments because the fall of longtime President Bashar al-Assad by the hands of Syrian opposition forces led by al-Sharaa in December.
“Whether or not [Syria] was going to stay as one territory or be partitioned was at all times a sticking level,” mentioned Serdar.
Kurdish rights
The settlement features a ceasefire in all of Syria, and SDF assist in combatting pro-Assad fighters.
It additionally contains an affirmation that the Kurdish individuals are integral to Syria and have a proper to citizenship and assured constitutional rights.
Al Jazeera’s Serdar mentioned it was unclear what the precise constitutional standing of the territory managed by the SDF can be, and whether or not it might retain some autonomy.
He additionally famous that, in a multiethnic and religiously numerous nation reminiscent of Syria, there could now be calls for to present particular standing to different teams.
“For Damascus, after getting given particular standing to a sure ethnicity, or a sure sect, then the query is [for] different sects like Alawites or Druze, are additionally they going to have particular standing?… That’s not clear for now,” Serdar mentioned.
Discussions over the integration of the SDF into the Syrian state had been ongoing because the fall of al-Assad, however had been hampered by divides fostered over years of struggle. The SDF had a extra ambiguous place in direction of al-Assad than different opposition forces, and was accused of being allied with the regime.
In the meantime, the SDF – whose management is secular and tied to the Kurdish nationalist Kurdistan Employees’ Occasion (PKK) – repeatedly clashed with Turkish-backed Syrian fighters, and confronted assaults from Turkiye itself.
The PKK has fought an insurgency in opposition to the Turkish state since 1984. Turkiye, together with the European Union and the US, considers the group a “terrorist” organisation.
Nevertheless, that has not stopped the US from supporting the SDF, largely due to its usefulness in confronting ISIL (ISIS) forces who beforehand managed elements of northeastern Syria earlier than being lastly defeated in 2019 by a US-led coalition that included the SDF.
The SDF has confronted tumultuous regional and worldwide adjustments, which can clarify the timing of the settlement with the Syrian central authorities.
Underneath the brand new US President Donald Trump, Washington has reportedly made plans to withdraw from Syria.
“Syria is its personal mess. They bought sufficient messes over there. They don’t want us concerned in each one,” Trump mentioned earlier this yr.
An announcement on February 27 by the imprisoned head of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, calling for the group to lay down its arms and dissolve itself, has additionally added strain on the SDF.
