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The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced a new agreement Friday with the Syrian government intended to stabilize a ceasefire that ended weeks of fighting and to lay out the steps toward integration between the two sides, the Associated Press reported citing a statement from SDF.
Under the agreement, the SDF said, security forces affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Interior would go into the cities of al-Hassakeh and Qamishli in the Kurdish heartland, which they had previously been barred from entering, and the process of integrating SDF and government forces would begin.
This would include the formation of a new military brigade comprising three brigades from the SDF, in addition to the formation of a brigade of SDF fighters within a government brigade in Aleppo province.
Local institutions in the Kurdish-led government of northeast Syria — which has operated as a de facto autonomous zone for years — and their employees would be integrated into state institutions.
The agreement also includes “civil and educational rights for the Kurdish people, and guaranteeing the return of the displaced to their areas,” the statement said.
“The agreement aims to unify the Syrian territories and achieve the full integration process in the region by enhancing cooperation between the concerned parties and unifying efforts to rebuild the country,” it said.