Syria nationalization is ‘moving forward’ but key SDF post disputed: Commander

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An agreement to integrate Kurdish-led forces into the Syrian military is “moving forward” but disputes remain over the deputy defense minister’s role, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Commander Mazloum Abdi said on Tuesday.

Abdi said the integration of autonomously-run Kurdish government, military and security forces is underway as mandated in a January 30 agreement with the Syrian government.

“We are moving forward with the implementation of the agreement,” Abdi told Arab and Kurdish tribes and commanders in Hasaka with reporters present.

The agreement aimed to end weeks of fighting between Kurdish forces and the Syrian Arab Army, which seized Kurdish-held areas backed by armed groups during January. The agreement includes a military division comprising three SDF brigades, as well as a brigade for the Kurdish stronghold of Kobane.

While the focus has been on Kurdish-run autonomous regions in northeastern Syria (Rojava), Abdi said the agreement applies to all of Syria. Damascus and the international community have pressed for Syria to unify and nationalize institutions following a 14-year civil war that saw the country splinter with hundreds of armed groups.

Abdi, who led negotiations to bring the Kurdish-led SDF under the Syrian Ministry of Defense, said a dispute over deputy defense minister’s post remains unresolved, without providing further details. The agreement stipulates that the senior post will be held by an SDF member.

Syrian Ministry of Interior personnel have deployed in Hasaka, Abdi said, amid withdrawals by other forces. The Kurdish-led interior security forces (Asayish) were in charge of the province and the authorities are focused on stabilizing the region following the surge in fighting, he said.

Abdi called integrating Rojava’s institutions into the Syrian government “the most important part of this agreement.” He said the process will be coordinated by Hasaka province, the seat of the Kurdish-led government which ran autonomously for over a decade. Officially known as the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), Rojava will retain their de facto autonomy and employees, he said.

Abdi said Rojava will maintain its “special status.”

“What we mean is that the people of the region should manage their areas themselves,” he added.

Kobane, a Kurdish-majority city in northern Syria, remains under siege by Syrian government forces weeks after the agreement and a ceasefire were struck. Residents have called for roads to open to provide access for humanitarian aid.

Abdi called for the "withdrawal of military forces from the Kobane countryside” and to “lift the siege imposed on the area."

On Tuesday, the Kurdish Red Crescent warned that Kobane will run out of medicine in three days and has no infant formula, creating a “massive crisis,” Shadya Ahmed, head of the Kurdish Red Crescent’s mobile teams in Kobane told Rudaw.