On Monday, the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) signed a deal to merge into the new Syrian government, which is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an offshoot of al-Qaeda.
The deal was signed between SDF chief Mazloum Abdi and Syria’s de-facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani. The SDF controls a significant portion of Syria’s northeast, where there are about 2,000 US troops deployed.
According to a statement from Sharaa’s office, the deal will “integrate all civil and military institutions in northeast Syria [Rojava] under the administration of the Syrian state, including border crossings, the [Qamishli International] Airport, and oil and gas fields.”
The agreement comes after Sharaa’s HTS forces conducted a series of massacres in northwest Syria amid fighting with militias in the region, killing around 1,000 civilians, the vast majority being Alawites, although some Christians were slaughtered as well.
In response to the massacres, Sharaa ordered the creation of a committee that he claims will investigate the “reasons, circumstances and context.” Local sources said most of the perpetrators of the massacres were foreigners, Uzbeks, Uyghurs, and Chechens, and only a small percentage were Syrian. The HTS-led government absorbed foreign jihadists into its military and appointed some to senior roles.
While his forces just went on a killing spree against minorities in the northwest, Sharaa still insists that his government will be “inclusive.” The deal he signed with Abdi says that all Syrians will be part of the political process regardless of religion or ethnicity and pledges the Kurds will have their “constitutional rights.”
The SDF has been battling with Turkey and its proxy, the Syrian National Army (SNA), in northern Syria, and those clashes continued on Monday as Abdi was signing the deal with Sharaa. Turkey considers the SDF the Syrian wing of the PKK, which has fought Ankara for decades.
The PKK’s jailed leader recently called for the group to disarm, which was followed by the PKK announcing a ceasefire with Turkey. But Turkey has continued military operations against Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq.
