Syria has integrated about 9,000 former members of the U.S.-backed YPG forces into its national security institutions as part of a broader effort to unify the country’s armed forces, while appointing a former senior YPG official as a deputy defense minister, according to officials familiar with the process.
The integration marks one of the most significant steps in the implementation of an agreement between Damascus and the YPG aimed at dissolving the terrorist group into Syria’s state institutions following the fall of Bashar Assad’s government.
Roughly 5,000 former YPG fighters have joined the Syrian Defense Ministry, while another 4,000 have been incorporated into the Interior Ministry, officials said. Non-Syrian foreign fighters previously affiliated with the YPG have been removed from the country as part of the restructuring process.
Syrian authorities describe the process as a gradual, reciprocal approach sometimes referred to as a "zipper model," under which security, administrative and political measures advance simultaneously to build confidence between the two sides.
The military integration has accelerated in recent months, while negotiations continue over local governance, political representation, constitutional reforms and language rights for Kurdish communities.
