The interim government of Syria, led by its president Ahmed Al-Sharaa, has reached a historic agreement with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the group equipped and armed for years by the USA – and mostly made up of the YPG, the Syrian branch of the PKK terrorist group – which controls the whole of the east of the country, and which, under the deal, agrees to integrate its forces into the Syrian army and help to fight the forces loyal to Assad that still remain in Syria.
The agreement, according to Syrian sources quoted by numerous international media outlets, was signed on Monday by Al-Sharaa and Ferhat Abdi Şahin (aka ‘Mazloum Kobani’), leader of the SDF, and is a milestone that would allow the new government in Damascus, which emerged after the rebel blitzkrieg that led to the fall of Assad at the end of last year, to have practically the whole country under its control.
Currently, the SDF controls approximately one third of Syrian territory, mainly the territories east of the Euphrates river, which include most of the Syrian oil and gas fields. Under the new agreement, which is expected to be fully implemented by the end of this year, all oil wells, border crossings and airports in the region will be controlled by the new Syrian central government; any form of territorial division is explicitly rejected, although Kurds will be guaranteed the right to education in their language and will be able to use it, something that was forbidden during the Assad regime.
In short, and according to the official Syrian news agency SANA, these are the main points of the agreement:
- The rights of all Syrians ‘to representation and participation in the political process and in all state institutions’ are guaranteed, regardless of their ethnic or religious origin.
- Syrian Kurds are recognised ‘as an integral part of the Syrian state.’
- A ceasefire is established throughout Syria.
- All civilian and military institutions in north-eastern Syria, including border crossings and airports, as well as oil and gas fields, will be integrated into the Syrian state.
- The return of displaced Syrians to their homes is guaranteed.
- Support will be provided to the government in its efforts to combat the ‘remnants of the Assad regime’, in reference to the militias affiliated with the former Syrian president.
- Any discourse that incites hatred and division in the country is explicitly rejected.
For years – especially since 2015 – the United States has used the SDF/YPG as its main bulwark against the danger posed in those years by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS). During their occupation of Syrian territory, the SDF/YPG have often been accused of ethnic cleansing, forcing the displacement of many of the region’s inhabitants and carrying out arbitrary arrests and forced conscriptions, including of children.
Despite the fact that the US is fully aware that the SDF is nothing more than a euphemism for the YPG, and despite knowing that the YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK – which Washington includes on its list of terrorist groups – the White House has maintained its support for the group by providing it with weapons, funding and equipment, which has been a source of constant tension with Turkey.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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