Syrian government and SDF agree ceasefire and integration deal

Syria's government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have agreed to a ceasefire deal and a plan to integrate their military and administrative bodies after weeks of fighting.

The agreement will see interior ministry security forces deployed to the centres of the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli in the northeast, both currently held by the Kurdish-led group.

Conflict between the two has seen the SDF lose much of the territory it had taken since the beginning of Syria's civil war in 2011. The group is now largely restricted to Kurdish-majority areas in Syria.

The new agreement will see three Syrian army brigades formed from SDF units.

The group, established from the mainly-Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and allied Arab groups in 2015, was a key force in defeating the Islamic State group in Syria with US support.

However, its long-term ambition to create an autonomous region in Syria has been crushed by the Syrian government's advances and US pressure.

The Syrian government, formed by rebel groups that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of allowing devolution in Syria and has taken steps to centralise authority in Damascus.

A government source quoted by state media said the state would "assume control over all civilian and governmental institutions, as well as [border] crossings".

'Yesterday we had a meeting with the Turkish [government.] They have already withdrawn from Afrin, as they told us'

- Elham Ahmad, SDC

"No part of the country will remain outside its control," the source added.

One of the government's staunchest backers, Turkey, sees the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed group that has fought the Turkish state for autonomy since 1984.

Speaking at a news conference, Elham Ahmad, co-chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, the SDF's political wing, said the agreement would come into force on Monday.

She said that Turkish forces had begun withdrawing from areas taken from the SDF and YPG since invading Syria in 2018, including the northwestern region of Afrin.

"Yesterday we had a meeting with the Turkish [government]. They have already withdrawn from Afrin, as they told us. They officially don't exist in Afrin, and [this] was also verified by the Syrian state," she said.

The US envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, said on X that the deal was a "historic milestone" that "reflects a shared commitment to inclusion, mutual respect, and the collective dignity of all Syrian communities".

French President Emmanuel Macron also welcomed the deal, saying France would back its implementation.

"Syria is sovereign, unified, and stable. Syria enjoys peace and respects all its components," he wrote on X.

'People are divided'

The news of the agreement has received a mixed response in areas under the control of the SDF and YPG.

Though some were happy to see fighting end, other were disappointed at the apparent abandoment of autonomy plans and worried about how President Ahmed al-Sharaa might govern.

Berivan Issa, co-chair of the humanitarian affairs office in the city of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, told Middle East Eye that people there were “disappointed because they don’t trust the government and they hoped for more than this".

"They hoped for Rojava province," she said, using the Kurdish name for the hoped-for devolved region.

'They hoped for more than this... they hoped for Rojava province'

- Berivan Issa, Kobane

She added that there was still no regular electricity in Kobane, which was the target of a government military offensive in recent weeks.

"My daughter asks why we don’t have fruits or vegetables in the house. I always try to lie and say that it is cold and no one can bring it from outside," she said.

Another resident, Raman Hassan, said the reaction in Kobane seemed to be mixed.

“People are divided into two parts - one is happy for the newly circulated agreement through social media and the other is pessimistic about it, having no trust in [Sharaa's government]," Hassan said, speaking under a pseudonym for security reasons.

"They were hoping for a kind of federalism or political decentralisation that gives them a kind of self-autonomy silimar to what people of [Iraqi Kurdistan] have."

Hassan said some people in the town believed the agreement came in order to subvert the "Save the Kurds" Act that was introduced in the US Senate on Thursday, calling on Donald Trump to reverse his normalisation of ties with Damascus and provide support to the SDF.

Ahmed told reporters on Friday that the US had played a "negative" role in negotiations with the Syrian government, particularly in claiming that the SDF had "accomplished" its mission in the country by defeating the Islamic State group.

She said Kobane would officially be administratively affiliated with Aleppo governorate, with a Kobane brigade designated within the Aleppo Division. She confirmed that institutions in Kobane will continue to operate normally and that official appointments would be announced within the state framework.

“They [the three SDF brigades] will be established in our [Hasakah] region. The members of the SDF will be in it, and the commanders will also come from the region," she said.

"It will be placed under the Ministry of Defense, but the one in Kobane will be under the governorate of Aleppo. That's how it is organised.”

Centralising power

Since coming to power, Syria's government has been attempting to assert control over the country and normalise relations with the international community, which were strained for years under Assad's rule.

Sharaa on Wednesday made his second visit to Russia since assuming power nearly 14 months ago, as the two sides attempt to repair relations and decide on Russia's future military presence in Syria. 

Russia was one of Assad's greatest allies, with its military propping up his rule for years until it suddenly collapsed during a lightning rebel offensive. Assad fled to Moscow as rebels took over Damascus in December 2024 and is believed to still be there now. 

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Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Russia was withdrawing forces from Qamishli airport in northeast Syria, although it was expected to maintain its larger Hmeimim Air Base and Tartus naval facility on Syria's Mediterranean coast.

An unnamed Syrian source told Reuters that the withdrawal is likely a gesture of goodwill and a way of signalling that Moscow does not wish to be dragged into the fighting between Syrian government forces and the SDF.

Reuters also reported that Sharaa is in fact seeking greater Russian engagement in future security arrangements in southern Syria, including a military police presence in Quneitra to serve as a buffer against Israeli incursions. 

In October, the government held parliamentary elections in which Sharaa hand-picked a third of the seats, while the remaining two-thirds were chosen by local committees made up of government appointees.

The process bypassed the Druze-majority Sweida province and the Kurdish-held northeast, with their 32 seats remaining empty. 

According to a temporary constitution announced in March, the parliament will exercise legislative functions until a permanent constitution is adopted and new elections can be held at the end of a five-year transitional process.

The new interim authorities say popular elections are unworkable in the wake of Syria's 13-year war, which saw hundreds of thousands killed and millions displaced both internally and externally.

However, the selection process has dismayed many Syrian pro-democracy campaigners who had hoped for change after the ousting of Assad.