Kurdish-led SDF and the Syrian government agree to stop deadly fighting in Aleppo
The Syrian government and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have agreed to de-escalate fighting after clashes in Aleppo killed at least two people and wounded several others on Monday.
Syria’s state news agency SANA, citing the Ministry of Defence, said on Monday that an order from the army’s general command has been issued to stop the targeting of SDF fighters.
Since this report, the SDF released a statement saying that it has instructed its forces to stop responding to the Syrian government’s attacks.
Both sides blamed each other for the violence, which erupted during a visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
In March, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi signed a landmark agreement with Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa to merge with the Damascus government.
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However, since then, implementation has stalled as the SDF and other Kurdish groups have resisted merging with the Syrian army.
Fidan issued a further ultimatum in August to the Syrian Kurdish armed groups, urging them to abandon cooperation with Israel and to honour their agreement to integrate within the Damascus government.
Turkey views the US-backed SDF, which controls areas in northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organisation because of its ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey, and has warned of military consequences if they do not honour their agreement with Damascus.
The PKK is designated as a terrorist organisation by both the US and the European Union.
In March, the group’s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his supporters to disarm and dissolve itself following the recognition of Kurdish existence, and to shift the struggle towards democratic politics.
Failing to integrate the SDF into Syrian state forces could risk further military violence and derail the country’s recovery from 14 years of bloody civil war which killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced nearly half of the population.
Turkey and Syria have developed closer ties following the fall of Bashar al-Assad just over a year ago.
Fidan has urged Kurds not to be an obstacle to Syria's stability and said on Monday that, "Syria's stability means Turkey's stability."
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