Syria steps back from Paris meetings with Kurdish-led SDF
In March, the Syrian Democratic Forces signed a deal with the new Islamist-led government in Damascus to join Syria’s state institutions
Syria will not take part in planned meetings with Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Paris, Syria’s state news agency quoted a government source as saying on Saturday, casting doubt over an integration deal signed by the two sides in March.
The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during the fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
In March, the SDF signed a deal with the new Islamist-led government in Damascus to join Syria’s state institutions.
The deal aims to stitch back together a country fractured by 14 years of war, paving the way for Kurdish-led forces that hold a quarter of Syria to merge with Damascus, along with regional Kurdish governing bodies.
It did not specify how the SDF will be merged with Syria’s armed forces, however. The SDF has previously said its forces must join as a bloc, while Damascus wants them to join as individuals.
The source was quoted by the news agency SANA as saying that Damascus would not be involved in negotiations with any side that aims to “revive the era of the former regime”.
The source was responding to a forum hosted by the Kurdish-led group that governs northeast Syria on Friday, in which it called for the review of the constitutional declaration issued earlier this year by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.