ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s defense ministry said on Wednesday that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) demands for federalism and decentralization are detrimental to Syria’s territorial integrity, warning that Ankara will support any move by Damascus to preserve it.
“The SDF continues to voice demands for decentralization and federalism and is not taking steps to integrate into the central authority. As we have emphasized before, this stance by the SDF harms Syria’s territorial integrity and stability,” the Turkish state-run TRT Haber cited the ministry as saying in a statement.
The SDF and Syria’s transitional government in Damascus signed an agreement in March to integrate the SDF and northeast Syrian (Rojava) institutions into state structures and establish a nationwide ceasefire.
Implementation negotiations are ongoing, but significant differences remain. Kurdish negotiators seek to integrate the SDF as a unified force, while the Syrian government prefers absorbing fighters individually into regular army units. The Kurdish-led administration in Rojava, along with Alawite and Druze groups, has been pushing for decentralization.