Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east.
Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war.
He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces.
Photo: Reuters
The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on the issue, but it marks a blow for the minority, which has long held ambitions of preserving the de facto autonomy they had exercised over areas they held for more than a decade.
Al-Sharaa announced the agreement to reporters on Sunday.
He said he had been scheduled to meet Abdi, who heads the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but that it had been postponed until yesterday due to poor weather.
“In order to calm the situation, we decided to sign the agreement,” al-Sharaa said.
Abdi in a statement broadcast by Kurdish television channel Ronahi said that “in order for this war not to turn into civil war ... we accepted to withdraw from the Deir Ezzor and Raqa regions to Hasakeh.”
He said he would explain the deal’s details to Syria’s Kurds after returning from Damascus.
Government forces this weekend captured the strategic city of Tabqa in the Raqa region, as well as the Euphrates Dam. They also advanced into parts of Deir Ezzor Province, including the al-Omar oil field, the country’s largest, having earlier made advances in Aleppo Province.
Syrian state media reported celebrations in some areas after the deal’s announcement, including in Raqa, where state media had earlier said that SDF gunfire had killed two civilians.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor had reported fighting between the SDF and “local Arab tribal fighters” in the city.
Al-Sharaa on Sunday met US envoy Tom Barrack, who called the deal with the Kurds a “pivotal inflection point.”
The envoy, whose country has long supported Kurdish forces, but also backs Syria’s new Islamist authorities, had met Abdi in Erbil on Saturday.
The Syrian presidency published the text of the 14-point agreement, which includes integrating the SDF and Kurdish security forces into the state, and the immediate handover of Kurdish-run Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces.
It would also see Damascus take responsibility for Islamic State group prisoners and their families held in Kurdish-run jails and camps.
Alexander McKeever, researcher and author of the This Week in Northern Syria newsletter, said the deal “falls significantly short of what the SDF had established over the years in the northeast, as well as the decentralized scenario it had been pushing for in negotiations.”
Al-Sharaa on Friday last week had issued a decree granting the Kurds official recognition, but the Kurds said the announcement fell short of their expectations.
Earlier Sunday, a correspondent on Raqa’s outskirts reported hearing gunfire, and said government forces had brought reinforcements and were combing parts of the city.
The SDF suddenly withdrew “from all areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the al-Omar and Tanak oil fields,” observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
He said the movements in Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces came as “fighters from local tribes, including Arab fighters who are part of the SDF, advanced in coordination with government troops.”
Deir Ezzor Province said that all public institutions were closed on Sunday and urged people to stay home.
The army also announced its control of the Euphrates Dam near Tabqa, a key water and energy facility that includes one of Syria’s largest hydroelectric power stations.
A correspondent had seen armored vehicles and tanks around Tabqa, with security personnel patrolling the streets.
Shops were closed, but some residents milled outside their homes, lighting fires to keep warm.
“We have suffered a lot, and I hope that the situation will improve with the arrival of the Syrian army,” resident Ahmad Hussein said.
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