https://archive.ph/lYcns

A ceasefire has been established after three weeks of fighting. The Kurds have secured major gains in local autonomy and national rights, while the Syrian president claims to have restored national unity.

The prospect of war between Damascus and Kurdish forces has receded. The Syrian transitional government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF, Kurdish-led) announced on Friday, January 30, a comprehensive agreement for the gradual integration of military forces and the administration of the Kurdish autonomous zone into the Syrian state. This marked a victory for Damascus, which restored its authority over territories administered by the SDF and put an end to the dream of Kurdish autonomy in Rojava. However, the Kurds achieved significant advances in local autonomy and national rights.

On X (formerly Twitter), Ilham Ahmed, a senior official in the Kurdish autonomous administration, expressed her “profound gratitude” to the mediators, especially “the United States of America and France, which have made tireless efforts” to achieve this agreement. The US called it a “historic step” toward Syrian unification. France “congratulated” both parties and said it would “fully support” the implementation of the agreement. “We hope it will be the reason for rebuilding a united Syria, protecting the rights of the Kurdish nation and all its components in the future and creating peace for Syria and the region as a whole,” said Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, who also played a key role in the mediation.

After three weeks of fighting, which saw Damascus regain control of nearly 80% of the territories in northeastern Syria formerly held by the Kurds since the civil war (2011-2024), a permanent ceasefire was established. Both the Syrian army and the SDF are to withdraw from contact points along the front line. Syrian authorities set a one-month deadline to regain control of local institutions, border crossings, Qamishli International Airport, oil and gas fields and the camps and detention centers housing members of the Islamic State group (IS) and their families.