Top German official meets SDF chief

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A top official from Germany’s foreign affairs ministry said on Sunday that he and Mazloum Abdi, chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), met to discuss “urgent issues” that need to be resolved in new Syria.

“With @mazloumabdi I spoke about the urgent issues to be addressed in direct contacts between SDF and HTS leadership,” Tobias Tunkel, the director of the Middle East and North Africa office of the German foreign office, said in a post on X.

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) spearheaded offensive by rebel groups against Bashar al-Assad’s regime, toppling it in a matter of days.

HTS has not clashed with US-backed SDF so far and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, recently met with Abdi with American mediation to discuss the future of the SDF-held northeast Syria (Rojava).

Several top Germany officials, including foreign minister, have visited Syria and reiterated support for Kurdish rights in new Syria and the inclusion of the SDF in the new security apparatus.

“Rights and interests of Syrian Kurds can best be safeguarded in an inner-Syrian dialogue with Damascus,” Tunkel said on Sunday.

The German official has previously spoken with Abdi on the phone and held face-to-face meetings with other Rojava officials.

He said they also discussed the ongoing fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).

SDF is the main ally of the US-led global coalition against ISIS. Germany is an active member of the coalition.

“We also discussed continuous joint efforts against ISIS,” Tunkel said.