Syria, Turkiye pressure SDF to implement integration deal
Shafaq News – Damascus / Ankara
Damascus and Ankara on Monday accused the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of lacking the political will to implement the March 10 Agreement on their integration into Syrian state institutions.
At a joint press conference in Damascus with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani described the deal as reflecting Damascus’ commitment to Syria’s territorial unity and questioned the SDF’s readiness to carry out its provisions. He said the government recently submitted a proposal to advance implementation, received the SDF’s response a day earlier, and is reviewing it.
Al-Shaibani stressed that the Jazira region in northeastern Syria—controlled by the SDF—is a core part of the country, warning that delays in integration are negatively affecting the area and obstructing reconstruction.
Fidan, who has recently warned that delays in implementation are testing the patience of key stakeholders, said that the SDF lacks the intent to implement the agreement. He linked Syria’s stability directly to Turkiye’s security and confirmed that carrying out the deal and integrating the group into state institutions would serve all parties.
Earlier this year, Syria’s transitional president Ahmad Al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi concluded the integration agreement, but disputes over implementation mechanisms and differing interpretations have stalled progress, deepening a crisis of confidence acknowledged by both sides.
Read more: March 10 Syria–SDF Pact tested as unwritten timeline nears end-2025
The Syrian government maintains that the agreement must be implemented within existing constitutional and legal frameworks and rejects any form of federalism or territorial division. The SDF, for its part, has stated that it submitted a comprehensive proposal outlining steps and mechanisms for integration, while calling for a decentralized system and an arrangement that preserves its organizational structure and combat role.
