Kurdish flags lie abandoned on the ground, in the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, on January 12, 2026. OMAR ALBAM / AP
Syria's government and Kurdish forces reached a comprehensive deal on Friday, January 30, to gradually integrate the Kurds' military and civilian institutions into the state. The new agreement, announced by both the SDF and Syrian state television, follows an understanding reached earlier this month on the future of the majority-Kurdish areas of Hasakeh and Kobane.
In recent weeks, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have ceded vast areas of Arab-majority land to Syrian government forces. It was territory they held for years, having seized it in fierce battles against the Islamic State jihadist group, while backed by a United States-led coalition. That made SDF key partners for Washington, but since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, the US has drawn close to the new authorities in Damascus, declared the need for its Kurdish alliance was largely over and sought to mediate talks between the government and the Kurds.
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Former Kurdish-led fighters and Damascus test a fragile 'reconciliation' in northeastern Syria
