ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Next week will be a decisive moment in talks to integrate the civil and military structures of northeast Syria (Rojava) into the state apparatus, a representative from Rojava told Rudaw on Friday.
The assessment comes from the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), that says the progress follows last week's meeting in Washington between Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump, also attended by Turkey’s foreign minister.
“Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was present. The talks between the two sides were good. There will be American support for it. In the coming days there will be large-scale talks between the SDF — that is, the Autonomous Administration — and Damascus,” said Abdul Wahab Khalil, head of the SDC office in Damascus.
“Good steps will be taken,” he said, adding that influential countries such as Turkey have adopted a “positive” stance on the issue.
In March, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and Sharaa signed an agreement to integrate all Rojava’s civil and military institutions into the federal government. Implementation talks stalled in the summer over disagreements on how to incorporate the SDF into the Syrian army, but have since resumed. The Kurdish-led administration of Rojava is also pushing for decentralization, which Damascus has feared could be a call for separatism.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani earlier this week said discussions with the Kurdish-led forces are ongoing, but will not be rushed.
“In the past 45 days, we as the Syrian government have had five meetings with the SDF to find mechanisms to implement the agreement,” Shaibani said during an appearance at Chatham House in London on Thursday.
“We seek to integrate all components into a unified Syria through dialogue and understanding,” Shaibani said.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), which governs Rojava, is expected to send a delegation to Damascus soon.
However, Kurdish parties outside the AANES framework say they have yet to see any concessions from Damascus regarding Kurdish rights.
“This interim government has not done or given anything to the Kurds to this day,” Mohammed Qasim, a member of the executive board of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (al-Wahda), told Rudaw.
The advancing negotiations between Rojava authorities and Damascus coincides with preparations for the European Union’s “Day of Dialogue” that is a platform for discussions with civil society organizations working in Syria and is being held for the first time in Damascus on Saturday after previous editions were hosted in Brussels.
Ahead of the event, the EU delegation met with civil society representatives in Damascus, stressing that dialogue remains the only path to resolving Syria’s problems.
“I came here today to participate in the Day of Dialogue. This is the first time it is being held in Syria, and we are bringing together a large number of organizations to discuss the most important issues in the country,” said Daniel Coleman, the EU’s Arabic-language spokesperson.