The PKK’s Syrian wing, the YPG, will withdraw from northern Aleppo province within the scope of a recently reached deal between the group and the Syrian government, a Syrian official said Wednesday.
The deal with the government and the YPG-led SDF stipulates that YPG elements will pull out of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods.
The group’s so-called “internal security forces” in those areas will be unified under a single structure and placed under the Interior Ministry, according to Lt. Col. Mohammed Abdul Ghani, who attended talks with the terror group on behalf of the government.
“All military forces will withdraw to northeastern Syria,” Abdul Ghani told Anadolu Agency (AA).
“Specific arrangements will be made by central committees and the Defense Ministry regarding the SDF’s military status. There will be no military presence in these two neighborhoods. Necessary mechanisms will be established, and the areas will be demilitarized.”
He pointed out that steps would soon be taken to release detainees.
“Currently, statistics are being compiled. Everyone arrested after the (Dec. 8, 2024) liberation will be released,” he said. “This agreement is specific to Aleppo province, but new deals will be made through the central committee to empty all prisons.”
Regarding the status of the group’s so-called security forces in the two neighborhoods, Abdul Ghani said they will be integrated into the Interior Ministry to help manage the situation in the neighborhoods.
He noted the deal includes provisions for removing barricades in the neighborhood and forming committees to establish security checkpoints.
The deal was signed in February by Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Ferhat Abdi Şahin, code-named “Mazloum Kobani,” the wanted ringleader of the SDF. It marks a major breakthrough that would bring most of Syria under the control of the government led by the group that led the ousting of dictator Bashar Assad in December.
The deal to be implemented by the end of the year would bring all border crossings with Iraq and Türkiye in the northeast, airports and oil fields under the control of the central government.
The process of integrating former PKK/YPG terrorist members into Syria’s army and security forces will be closely followed by Ankara. Türkiye advocates that these forces should not focus on a specific area and should be scattered in a homogenous way. Furthermore, Türkiye had previously underlined that foreigners within the SDF must leave the country.
The SDF, a U.S.-backed armed wing of the YPG, currently controls one-third of Syria’s territory, including most of the country’s oil and gas fields. The YPG uses the name SDF to give itself an air of legitimacy.
Syria’s Kurds will gain their rights, including teaching and using their language, which were banned for decades under Assad. The agreement envisions the integration of Syrian Arab Republic institutions and affirms territorial unity while rejecting any form of division.
Meanwhile, Türkiye announced that its counterterrorism operations would continue.
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