Syria warns Kurds against delay in integrating into state
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani warned Monday that postponing implementation of an agreement between Syria's new administration and Kurdish-led forces in the northeast would "prolong the chaos" in the country.
His remarks came as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced it was disbanding, an announcement the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which control swathes of north and northeast Syria has not yet commented on.
The PKK's move is "a pivotal moment" for regional stability, Shaibani told a news conference in Ankara with his Turkish and Jordanian counterparts.
Syria is "implementing the national accord with the Syrian Democratic Forces and incorporating all areas under central state control", he said.
In March, Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi signed an agreement to integrate the civil and military institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast into the national government.
The deal, agreed three months after the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, is expected to be implemented by the end of the year.
"This process is complicated and sensitive but it is necessary," Shaibani said, adding that "delaying the implementation of this agreement will prolong the chaos, open the door to foreign interference, and fuel separatist tendencies".
"Our goal is not dominance but unification," he said.
"We are keen on implementing this agreement and we hope that the other side is seriously committed to implementing this agreement," he added.
The SDF, the Kurdish administration's de facto army, controls most of the oil and gas fields in Syria.
The force maintains that it is independent from the PKK, but it is dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as a PKK offshoot.
After years of marginalization and repression under the Assad dynasty, the Kurds took advantage of government forces' withdrawal during the civil war, which erupted in 2011, to establish a semi-autonomous administration.
With US backing, the SDF played a key role in the fight against the Islamic State group, which was defeated in its last Syrian territorial stronghold in 2019.
Shaibani emphasized that "the unity of Syrian territory is non-negotiable, as Syria is an indivisible, unified state, sovereign over its land and will remain so".
"The rights of Kurdish citizens will be preserved and guaranteed on an equal footing with the rest of the Syrian people," he added.
Syria's Kurds have criticized a temporary constitutional declaration announced in March and said the new government failed to reflect the country's diversity.
In February, Abdi said an initial call for the PKK to lay down weapons and disband did not concern his forces.
Source: Agence France Presse
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