Fragile Progress in Talks Between Syria’s Kurds and Interim Government
Summary: the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Damascus government signed an agreement in March 2025 to integrate the Kurdish-led administration into a new national framework, but renewed clashes months later underscored the peace's fragility. Despite a US-brokered ceasefire that allowed the SDF to join the national army, the central government's refusal to grant political guarantees for Kurdish autonomy and minority rights, along with Turkish opposition, leaves the country at risk of further conflict.
We thank an Arab Digest member who prefers to remain anonymous for today’s article.
Optimism flickered across the country when representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the interim Syrian government in Damascus signed an agreement on March 10, 2025. The deal promised to begin integrating the Kurdish-led administration of northeast Syria into the new national framework. It represented a step toward reunifying a country shattered by fourteen years of war.
Three months later, on October 7th, clashes between the two sides west of the majority Kurdish neighborhood of Ashrafiyeh in Aleppo underscored how little has changed on the ground. State media reported that one Syrian soldier was killed and several others wounded. The fragile truce had descended into skirmishes and blockades, including the use of heavy artillery, threatening to push the country back into all-out war.
However, before any escalation occurred, the Americans intervened. US Special Envoy Tom Barrack facilitated a meeting in Damascus between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former leader of the Sunni Islamist Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, and Mazloum Abdi, the head of the SDF, which led to a ceasefire agreement.
Abdi later said that the two sides agreed for the SDF to join the national army as a largely cohesive group, a key sticking point.
“These forces cannot join the Syrian army individually, like other small factions. Rather, they will join as large military formations formed according to the rules of the Defence Ministry.”
![]()
The Syrian Democratic Forces "Rapid Intervention Unit" in Aleppo, armed with NATO weapons
One reason for the limited progress between March and October had been a series of attacks by Syrian forces against parts of the country’s minorities. Back in March, groups affiliated with the new authorities in Damascus attacked and killed over a thousand Alawites, who are widely perceived to have been the main beneficiaries of the former Assad regime. Then, in July, clashes occurred between government-backed forces and the Druze religious minority in Sweida province in southern Syria.
These outbreaks of violence between the country’s Sunni majority and the country’s religious minorities certainly caused room for concern by the SDF.
And unlike other minority groups, the SDF controls the strategically important northeast of the country with 100,000 personnel. They have experience running their own government for over a decade and enjoyed close military cooperation with the United States when they worked to defeat the Islamic State. After years of conflict, the Kurds appeared unwilling to relinquish their autonomy.
United Nations Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Najat Rochdi said at the United Nations Security Council that these events “highlight the persistent fragility of Syria’s security environment and transition….But thankfully, they also demonstrate the ongoing willingness by all Syrian sides to de-escalate and turn to dialogue.”
The progress on military integration was welcome, as all sides wish to avoid any large-scale conflict that would push the country back to civil war. But there is much more progress needed to satisfy the Turks, who see the SDF as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group designated as a terrorist organisation by Ankara. They are increasingly impatient with Kurdish insistence on maintaining its autonomous structure along Turkey’s southern border. President Sharaa told an interviewer bluntly: “The northeast is a national security issue for Turkey…They won’t accept the status quo.”
Since the overthrow of Assad, the Americans have also pivoted from the SDF, growing impatient with their key ally, and supporting the new Syrian government’s vision for centralised consolidation. Washington wants to see progress to address security issues. ISIS has taken advantage of a perceived security vacuum and increased the number of attacks in Syria. The US also wants Kurdish authorities to hand over authority to the central government to help close prisons, where 9,000 suspected ISIS members are held. The SDF, however, sees their management of ISIS detainees maintains their influence.
US Special Envoy Barrack said in response to Kurdish demands for political decentralisation: "Federalism… doesn't work… there is only one road, that road is to Damascus (and) we are running out of time."
But the ongoing talks between Damascus and the Kurds must go beyond narrow security considerations, as discussion around equal rights and other political guarantees will help shore up the central government’s reputation in minority areas. For example, the decision by the new government to name the country the Syrian Arab Republic and to make Arabic the country’s sole official language ignores Syria’s ethnic and religious diversity.
Granting equal recognition to different languages and religions would foster a more pluralistic system of governance, whereas the central government’s insistence on central control alone does not offer a roadmap for genuine political reform. If the government continues to alienate minorities, the next round of clashes may not remain so limited.
Members can leave comments about this newsletter on the Arab Digest website.