The Syrian government has announced that it will not participate in planned meetings with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Paris, citing a recent conference held by the SDF as a “dealt blow” to ongoing negotiation efforts. According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, an unnamed government source stated that Damascus wants future negotiations to be held in the Syrian capital, “as it is the legitimate and national address for dialogue among Syrians”.
This development casts doubt over an integration deal signed in March between the SDF and Syria’s interim government, which took over after the overthrow of longtime President Bashar al-Assad in December. The deal aims to stitch back together a country fractured by 14 years of war, paving the way for Kurdish-led forces that hold a quarter of Syria and regional Kurdish governing bodies to integrate with Damascus.
However, the agreement did not specify how the SDF will be merged with Syria’s armed forces, with the group previously saying its forces must join as a bloc while the government wants them to join as individuals. The SDF on Saturday accused government-backed factions of attacking areas in northeastern Syria more than 22 times, saying it had exercised restraint during such “aggressions” but the continuation of attacks “threatens mutual trust and undermines understandings”.
The Kurdish administration held a conference involving several Syrian minority communities on Friday, the first such event since al-Assad’s removal from power. The conference’s final statement called for “a democratic constitution that … establishes a decentralised state” and guarantees the participation of all components of Syrian society. Damascus has previously rejected calls for decentralisation.
In its report on Saturday, SANA said the government “stresses that the SDF conference dealt a blow to the ongoing negotiation efforts” towards implementing the March agreement. “Accordingly, the government will not participate in any meetings scheduled in Paris, nor will it sit at the negotiating table with any side seeking to revive the era of the deposed regime under any name or cover,” the report said.
Participants in the Kurdish-organised conference also criticised the government over sectarian clashes in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda and the coastal region. “The current constitutional declaration does not meet the aspirations of the Syrian people. … It should be reviewed to ensure a wider participatory process and a fair representation in the transitional period,” the conference’s final statement read.