Syrian Kurdish leader insists on decentralised governance as pressure mounts

SDF militia is not finished as fighting force but will have to relinquish territory to the new government in Damascus, sources say

Mazloum Abdi, left, leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, speaks to Prime Minister Masrour Barzani of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, at the Middle East Peace and Security Forum in Duhok. Kurdistan Regional Government / AFPShow less

The head of the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces on Wednesday renewed his demand for decentralised governance in Syria as the group faces growing pressure to surrender territorial gains made during the civil war to the new government that replaced the Assad regime last year.

“After 15 years of war, Syria must become a decentralised state, with each region managing its own affairs. This is the reality we face, and we must work within this framework,” Mazloum Abdi told the Middle East Peace and Security Conference in Duhok, in the Kurdish-administered north of Iraq.

The SDF has been under threat of becoming a casualty of the seismic changes in Syria ushered by the toppling of former president Bashar Al Assad in December last year. Overnight, Damascus shifted from the orbit of Iran and Russia to a government supported by Turkey and the US, which created the SDF in 2015 as the ground component in the fight against ISIS. Turkey regards the SDF as a terrorist organisation, and an extension of the officially disbanded but still armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which had waged a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state and supplied commanders to the SDF.

Mr Abdi said the former regime fell because it was “fighting against decentralisation”, and insisted that the SDF “should not be seen as a source of fear”.

During the 2011 to last year Syrian civil war, the group fought a former Al Qaeda affiliate that gave rise to Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, the rebel force that led the ouster of the Assad regime. The SDF also co-operated with the former president, helping his loyalists capture Aleppo in December 2016 under Russian air cover. Clashes have erupted between the SDF and forces of the new government, or affiliated to it, on fronts near the Euphrates River, which separates most of the SDF's territory from areas under Damascus.

Speaking at the same venue in Duhok, Syrian Kurdish politician Ilham Ahmad, who is close to Mr Abdi, criticised the current system as “completely centralised, with an authoritarian mentality”.

The geopolitical shifts compelled Mr Abdi to sign an integration deal in March with Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara, who opposes a decentralised structure for Syria. Devolution has been one of the main points of contention in US-sponsored talks to implement the March deal, which have also involved Turkey.

Last week, US Special Envoy Thomas Barrack said that three countries have mapped the “next phase” of SDF integration, but did not provide details. Mr Barrack made his remarks after a landmark meeting between Mr Al Shara and President Donald Trump at the White House.

A Syrian source in Washington said that the US-supervised transition of SDF areas to government control will be based on the group relinquishing most of its territory while retaining de facto operational independence.

“America has made it clear to the SDF that it has failed as an administration. It has been especially stingy towards the Arab areas,” said the source, who has met US officials to discuss the future of SDF areas.

During the civil war, the SDF took control of large areas of central and eastern Syria, as a result of co-operation with the former regime as well as territorial gains from defeating ISIS. These regions contain areas that are overwhelmingly Arab, especially in the governorates of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, whereas Syria's Kurdish population is concentrated in the province of Hassakeh, in the north-east. The three governorates account for most of the area under SDF control.

The SDF will become “symbolically” part of the new Syrian army but will be managed by Kurdish commanders, especially in Hassakeh. The US is pushing for a system of local councils in the areas the SDF relinquishes, particularly in Kurdish concentrations of Hassakeh.

“It will be decentralisation in all but name in Hassakeh,” the source said.