Syria’s transitional government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces signed an agreement to integrate the institutions of the northeast into the Syrian state on March 10, 2025. The accord also called for a ceasefire across Syria and affirmed the country’s territorial unity.
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi signed the document, according to images and a statement released by the Syrian presidency. It covered all civilian and military institutions in SDF-held areas, including border crossings, an airport and oil and gas fields. Implementation was expected by the end of 2025.
The SDF had controlled a semi-autonomous region in northeastern Syria since 2015. Backed by the United States, it played a central role in the campaign that removed Islamic State from its last territorial stronghold in 2019. The new deal, if fully implemented, would return much of that territory and key resources to central administration in Damascus.
The agreement recognised Kurds as an integral component of Syria and pledged citizenship and constitutional rights. It rejected separatism, hate speech and attempts to inflame divisions. It also committed the SDF to support the state against forces loyal to deposed president Bashar al-Assad and other threats to national security.
Important details remained unsettled. The reporting did not specify the constitutional status of the northeast, whether it would retain a form of autonomy or how SDF units would be incorporated into national military structures. Any special status for the Kurdish region could also influence demands from other communities in Syria’s multiethnic and multireligious society.
The breakthrough followed talks that began after opposition forces led by al-Sharaa overthrew Assad in December 2024. Relations had been complicated by the SDF’s distinct position during the civil war and by its repeated clashes with Turkish-backed Syrian groups. Turkey regards the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, the dominant force within the SDF, as linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The SDF says it is independent of the PKK.
The timing also reflected wider shifts. US President Donald Trump had indicated a desire to withdraw American forces from Syria. Separately, imprisoned PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan called in late February for his organisation to disarm and dissolve, increasing pressure on Kurdish-led forces.
The accord came after deadly violence in Syria’s Alawite coastal heartland, which posed a major challenge to the new authorities. By placing a ceasefire and institutional integration in one framework, Damascus and the SDF set out a route toward national consolidation. Whether that route succeeded depended on negotiations over security command, political rights and local governance that the initial document did not resolve.
