Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has struck a landmark agreement with the country’s Kurdish-led region of Rojava in an unprecedented step toward a united Syria that recognises the rights of the long-oppressed Kurds.
Celebrations exploded in cities across Rojava today after Sharaa, leader of Syria’s ruling Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, signed the deal in Damascus alongside Mazloum Abdi, the head of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The SDF is a Kurdish-led multi-ethnic militia that serves as the de facto army and protectors of Rojava, which declared its autonomy from former Syrian president Bashar-al Assad’s regime in 2012.
Though its exact terms have not yet been settled, the deal will bring all of Syria’s border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, airports and oil and gas fields in Rojava under the central government’s control.
In return, Syria’s new Islamist rulers Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) will recognise the Kurds as an ‘essential component of the Syrian state’, guaranteeing them ‘right to citizenship and all… constitutional rights’.
The SDF will integrate into a new Syrian army but will maintain a level of military autonomy, something that commander Abdi had maintained was a key condition as his forces continue to resist attacks from Turkey and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA).
Abdi described the deal as a ‘historical opportunity’ and vowed to ‘support the Syrian state in countering the remnants of Assad’s regime’.
But concerns persist over the fate of tens of thousands of suspected Islamic State fighters who remain in SDF-guarded prisons scattered across Rojava.
The deal, which is set to come into effect by the end of this year, comes at a critical moment for Syria’s new government just days after more than 1,000 people were killed in brutal clashes between HTS and pro-Assad loyalist groups in Alawite communities around the coastal city of Latakia.
HTS came under renewed scrutiny after a torrent of footage appeared to show its fighters beating, torturing and executing unarmed civilians.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and Commander of Syrian Kurdish-led forces Mazloum Abdi (L) shake hands, after Syria reached a deal to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with state institutions
Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, sign a deal in Damascus, Syria, Monday, March 10, 2025
Residents celebrate following the signing of a breakthrough deal between Syria’s interim government and the SDF, the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast, in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, late Monday, March 10, 2025
People celebrate after the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) signed a landmark deal with HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa to integrate with the new Syrian state
HTS militants drag an Alawite man out of his home, beat him with their rifles and proceed to execute him as he lies on the ground during civilian slaughters last week
The Kurds, the world’s largest ethnic group without a state, are spread across Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, where they have long fought for autonomy.
Syria’s Kurds faced constant oppression under Assad’s Baathist regime, but in July 2012 they seized the opportunity presented by civil war chaos to secure their freedom.
Kurdish armed groups took control of Kurdish-majority cities near the Turkish border and later formalised their rule over several regions, declaring autonomy from the central government and naming the territory ‘Rojava’ (West).
Unlike Syria under Assad, Rojava adopted a decentralised system of governance where all ethnicities and religious groups have a say in regional administration.
This model makes Rojava arguably the most democratic and egalitarian region in the Middle East.
HTS meanwhile began life in 2012 as the Syrian wing of the extremist group Al-Qaeda under the name Jabhat al-Nusra.
In 2017, the group underwent a rebrand, cutting ties with Al-Qaeda and changing its name to HTS as leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sought to moderate his stance to gain legitimacy.
Since seizing power in December 2024, HTS has ruled from Damascus, consolidating their hold over most of western and parts of central Syria.
It remains an ultra-conservative Sunni-Islamist organisation and until this week had shown no willingness to accept Kurdish self-administration.
SDF leader Abdi and the region’s political body, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), had therefore remained wary of HTS’ intentions for Syria but expressed a desire to work with Syria’s new leaders, provided their political and cultural rights could be guaranteed.
If the deal is implemented according to the scope of the initial text agreed by Sharaa and Abdi, both parties stand to benefit.
For Sharaa, the deal allows his HTS-led government to consolidate its power over a huge part of northeastern Syria and take control over the bulk of the nation’s oil and gas reserves.
The new Syrian army also gains a highly organised and US-trained Kurdish contingent with whom they can coordinate over security challenges.
Syria’s Kurds meanwhile will in theory gain political representation in a future multi-ethnic Syrian government along with social and cultural rights that have eluded them for decades.
There are, however, a litany of obstacles that must be overcome for such a deal to be implemented effectively.
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (pictured), who led the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that spearheaded the lightning offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad, on Sunday called for ‘national unity (and) civil peace’ to be preserved
A man fires into the air during the funeral of a member of the Syrian security forces killed in an attack by groups loyal to the ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Hama province, Syria, March 9, 2025
Security forces loyal to the interim Syrian government ride in the back of a vehicle moving along a road in Syria’s western city of Latakia on March 9, 2025
A person celebrates after the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls much of Syria’s oil-rich northeast, signed a deal agreeing to integrate into Syria’s new state institutions, the Syrian presidency said on Monday, in Qamishli, Syria, March 11, 2025
A member of Rojava’s Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) performs a search on a suspected member of ISIS during a raid on Al-Hol refguee camp
Chief among the Kurds’ concerns is the future of prisons holding thousands upon thousands of suspected ISIS fighters and their families.
The Kurdish-led SDF fought a years-long battle against the jihadist group, partnering closely with the United States to steadily beat back the extremists until ISIS was geographically defeated in 2019.
But Sunni Islamist group HTS is likely to want to take control of the prisons containing ISIS fighters who were captured and imprisoned – including thousands of foreigners who travelled form Western countries to join the extremist group – as they begin integrating SDF and Kurdish-led institutions into the central government.
Meanwhile, the SDF continues to repel attacks by Turkey and the Turkish-backed SNA.
Turkey sees the US-backed SDF as an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish militant organisation that has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish government in the pursuit of Kurdish autonomy.
In recent years, Ankara has launched several military operations across the border into northeastern Syria, declaring them necessary to protect Turkish sovereignty.
But in reality these operations were ruthless landgrabs that killed hundreds of Kurds and displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Although Turkey is not directly allied with HTS, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is positioning himself as the leading ally of Sharaa after the group deposed Assad’s regime.
Turkey is likely to strongly oppose any deal that sees the SDF maintain a significant degree of autonomy as part of an integrated Syrian national army.
