Syrian government begins talks to integrate SDF forces into army

The Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, held their first round of talks on Wednesday for the complete integration of the Kurdish-led entity into the Syrian state.

The meetings were held in a US base used by the SDF, and are part of a push to finalise the breakthrough agreement signed between Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi on 10 March. 

An SDF statement on Wednesday said that Abdi “met with the committee formed by Al-Sharaa to finalise the agreement between the Syrian administration and the Syrian Democratic Forces”, adding that “opinions were exchanged during the meeting, and the working mechanism of the committees was discussed, which are scheduled to begin joint work at the start of April”.

“The meeting addressed the constitutional declaration and the need not to exclude any Syrian component from playing its role and participating in shaping Syria’s future and drafting the constitution… [it] focused extensively on the necessity of a ceasefire across all Syrian territories,”  the statement added. 

The meeting was attended by Rohilat Afrin, a member of the General Command of the Women’s Protection Units, and Hussein Salameh, the head of the committee representing the Syrian administration.

The two key political parties in the Kurdish political scene in Syria – the Kurdish National Council (KNC) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) – are in talks to form a single delegation that can carry the demands of the Kurdish people to the Damascus government.

The KNC and PYD sides held a meeting on Tuesday in Hassakeh under the supervision of Abdi, with American sponsorship represented by US Special Envoy to North and East Syria, Scott Pauls.

Statements after the meeting suggest that both Kurdish parties are in the process of solving disagreements that have widened during the Syrian war with the ultimate aim of establishing a single political entity to represent the Kurds in the post-Bashar al-Assad era.

An announcement on the formation of a joint delegation between the KNC and the PYD is expected at the beginning of next week, following the celebration of Nowruz, the annual festival celebrated by Kurds worldwide.

Attempts to integrate SDF-held areas into Syria – both militarily and politically – are seen as a key challenge for the country’s new government to bring unity and stability to the fractured country.

It comes amid the fallout of sectarian mass killings perpetrated by the Syrian security forces during an insurgency of pro-Assad forces in Latakia, Tartous, and Hama, as well as a dangerous conflagration with Lebanese forces at the border in Homs.