Syria’s government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have reached a sweeping agreement to fold Kurdish security units and their autonomous administration into the central state, capping weeks of clashes that culminated in a cease-fire, according to statements released today by both sides and broadcast on Syrian state television.
The accord follows a period of fighting in which Kurdish forces lost control of swathes of territory to pro-government units, leaving them confined largely to Kurdish-majority pockets in the country’s north and northeast. The deal marks a decisive shift in Syria’s northeast, where the SDF once held sway across much of Hasakeh and Raqqa provinces and parts of Deir el-Zour and Aleppo during the 13-year civil war.
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Under the agreement, Syrian government forces will deploy in the northeastern cities of Hasakeh and Qamishli, long hubs of Kurdish self-governance, while three brigades of the Syrian army will be formed from SDF ranks. A separate brigade will be created for the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobane in northern Syria. The accord outlines a gradual integration process encompassing both security structures and the Kurds’ civilian administration, though a precise timeline and command arrangements were not immediately disclosed.
The terms were presented as part of a broader effort by Syria’s new Islamist authorities—who took power after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024—to reassert state control nationwide. While the government framed the move as restoring sovereignty and ending competing power centers, details of the transition and the scope of central oversight in formerly autonomous districts were not immediately clear and could not be independently verified.
For the country’s Kurdish minority, the agreement represents a major rollback of ambitions for lasting self-rule. During the war, Kurdish-led authorities built a de facto autonomous administration with its own councils, courts and security services, arguing that decentralized governance could stabilize a region battered by conflict and the fight against extremist groups. Folding those structures into Damascus’ apparatus is likely to reshape local politics, budgeting and security priorities across the northeast.
The cease-fire that preceded the deal appears to have set the stage for negotiations as front lines stabilized and humanitarian concerns mounted. Yet questions remain about how Kurdish units will be vetted and absorbed, how disputes will be resolved during integration, and what safeguards—if any—will protect local representation in the new command and administrative hierarchies. Neither side detailed mechanisms for power-sharing or oversight.
Today’s announcement underscores the fluid balance of power in Syria’s fractured landscape and the accelerating consolidation drive by the central state. Its success, analysts say, will hinge on implementation: deploying government units in sensitive urban centers like Hasakeh and Qamishli, standing up the new brigades in and around Kobane, and navigating the political and tribal complexities that have defined the northeast since the war began.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
