SDF rejects Damascus calls for Kurdish fighters to defect

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Friday rejected the Syrian Arab Army’s calls for its fighters to join the national army, calling the appeal a sign of political and military weakness amid escalating tensions in northern Syria.

“Begin your defection from the SDF organization; your homeland welcomes you at any time and place,” the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) quoted the Syrian Arab Army’s Operations Command as saying ahead of a planned Syrian military offensive on Kurdish forces.

In response, the SDF called the defense ministry’s remarks “nothing but desperate and transparent appeals that reflect political and military bankruptcy and a failed attempt to sow division among the region’s communities.”

Syrian army prepares new offensive

The appeal for fighters from the autonomous, Kurdish-led SDF to join the national army came as the Syrian military prepared for a major offensive on SDF positions in northern Syria.

The Syrian military has expanded its attacks on Kurdish-held territory as part of the Islamist-led government’s wider goal to integrate Kurdish military and political institutions of Rojava into state structures. While Kurdish leaders have agreed in principle and say progress is being made, Kurds and other minorities fear a centralized government system would threaten their rights or lead to persecution.

After expelling Kurdish fighters from two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Aleppo earlier this week, Damascus expanded its operations to SDF-held areas in eastern Aleppo - including Deir Hafer, Maskanah, and surrounding districts - declaring them “closed military zones” and ordering tens of thousands of residents to evacuate by Friday evening.

Capturing these areas would allow Syrian interim government forces to open a corridor linking Aleppo to Raqqa province, the former stronghold of the Islamic State (ISIS) and increase military pressure on the SDF along the Euphrates River.

Footage obtained by Rudaw showed a convoy of US armored vehicles arriving in Deir Hafer on Friday. An SDF official told Rudaw that six armored vehicles were conducting a military patrol. Reuters news agency also reported the Syrian military was preparing to attack to revive power-sharing negotiations.

Operations could reportedly expand to Rojava

The SDF and Damascus have sporadically fought over the past few months as talks stalled over how to integrate Rojava institutions into the central government. Citing a senior military official involved in military planning, Reuters reported that if the military campaign fails to revive negotiations, Syria's army may widen the military campaign to Rojava which could end over a decade of Kurdish self-rule.

The SDF serves as the de facto military force in northeastern Syria, known as Rojava, and was the main on-the-ground partner of the US-led Global Coalition that defeated ISIS territorially in Syria in 2019.

In a post published on his X account on Friday, the US Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Washington was attempting to de-escalate the situation. He was set to meet with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi in Erbil on Saturday in a meeting brokered by Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, Al-Monitor reported.

“The United States remains in close contact with all parties in Syria, working around the clock to reduce the tension, prevent escalation, and return to integration talks between the Syrian government and the SDF,” he said.

Later Friday, the Syrian defense ministry reported that a half-dozen SDF fighters had “defected on the Deir Hafer front,” SANA news agency reported.

“We are receiving numerous defection requests within the previously designated area, and we are working to secure them,” the defense ministry said.

SDF, Syria tout patriotism

In appealing for SDF fighters - who include Kurds, Arabs and other minorities - to join the national army, the Syrian army repeated its claim that its operation targets alleged fighters from the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), not the Syrian SDF.

“Our problem was and remains with the terrorist PKK militias and the remnants of the defunct regime, who want to target the population and destroy Syrian society,” SANA reported.

Damascus and its closest regional ally, Turkey, have long accused the PKK of operating within the SDF, a claim the SDF has consistently denied. The Kurdish rebel group formally renounced its decades-long armed struggle against Turkey in May and is engaged in a peace process with Turkey, where it remains outlawed.

The SDF said its forces include “Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs and all other groups, constituting a unified national force” and are “united in blood in confronting terrorism and protecting civilians.”

“These desperate calls will not affect them and will only strengthen unity among the region’s people and rally support for their forces,” the statement added.