President Barzani welcomes landmark SDF-Damascus agreement

11-03-2025
Rudaw
A+ A-

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Tuesday welcomed the landmark SDF-Damascus agreement as "an appropriate roadmap for the future and a correct transitional phase." He expressed Erbil's “full support” for Syria's stability. 

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi signed a milestone agreement on Monday to integrate the SDF into the Syrian state’s institutions. 

“We congratulate our brothers in Syria on the agreement reached between the President of the Syrian Republic and the Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which represents an appropriate roadmap for the future and a correct transitional phase. The Syrians’ welcome of this agreement reflects their desire, like all the peoples of the region, for stability and peaceful solutions away from violence,” said President Barzani on X. 

“While welcoming this agreement, we reiterate the Kurdistan Region's full support for peace and stability in Syria, and we advocate the need to protect the rights of all Syrian communities and their active participation in building a free and prosperous Syria,” he added. 

The deal recognizes the Kurds as an integral part of Syrian society and includes a ceasefire across the country, as well as the return of displaced Syrians to their hometowns. It is set to be implemented “no later than the end of the year,” according to the Syrian Presidency.

Regional powers and Kurdish political factions have also welcomed the deal. 

Abdi said on Tuesday that they consider the agreement “a real opportunity to build a new Syria that embraces its components and guarantees a good neighborhood.” 

The SDF’s political wing - the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) - also hailed the agreement but again called for decentralization, despite the Damascus authorities' vehement condemnation of the concept. 

Comments

Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.

To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.

We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.

Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.

Post a comment

Required
Required
 

The Latest

Demonstrators lift placards during a rally "to mourn for the civilian and security personnel casualties", at al-Marjeh square in Damascus on March 9, 2025. Photo: AFP

Israel accuses Syria’s new leadership of committing ‘massacres’

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday accused Syria’s new rulers of “massacring” their own people and urged European nations to stop legitimizing the interim government in Damascus.