ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called on the new Syrian authority to fully integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into its security apparatus, adding that their “strong” fighters will serve the security objectives of Damascus. 

“I want to express to you our loyalty to the Syrian Democratic Forces, who have paid a lot and have been precious allies in the fight against terrorism. We are loyal to our allies because we also know what we owe them,” Macron said during an international conference in Paris on the future of Syria. 

He added that the SDF “with courage, fought alongside the [global] coalition that we were part of. And so, I think that, at this moment, our duty is also to relay their interests and not abandon them.”

The SDF, the de facto army of the Kurdish-held northeast Syria (Rojava), has been the main ally of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) on the ground in Syria in the last decade. 

“I want to tell you that their [SDF's] full integration into the Syrian transition will first serve your security objective because they are many strong fighters and I think that your responsibility today is to integrate them and also to allow them to join forces with the same objective: to fight against the terrorist groups that destabilize you and to maintain your sovereignty,” stressed Macron. 

France is an active member of the coalition and has troops in Rojava, alongside the US. It has also recently joined Americans in their efforts to unite Syrian Kurds through intra-Kurdish talks that have been stalled for years.

After meeting with SDF chief Mazloum Abdi last month, Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa said the new Syrian army would include the US-backed force. Abdi expressed readiness to integrate the SDF into a national military, contingent on reaching a mutually agreed-upon framework.

“It is crucial that all doors remain open to ensuring the inclusion of all parts of Syria and all key constituencies within the political transition process,” the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said on Wednesday.