Forces affiliated with Syria’s interior ministry entered the key city of al-Hassakeh on Monday, fulfilling terms of a recent accord struck with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to reports. This deployment follows weeks of intense clashes that saw the SDF relinquish substantial territory across northeastern Syria.
The agreement, announced by the SDF on Friday, mandates steps toward integrating the Kurdish-led force into the national army and police structures. Furthermore, civilian institutions operating in SDF-controlled zones are slated for integration into Damascus’s central government framework.
Government military units will not enter Kurdish-majority areas under the terms; however, small security contingents will enter al-Hassakeh and Qamishli. These units will secure state-affiliated facilities such as passport offices, the civil registry, and the local airport, facilitating the resumption of their operations.
Local Kurdish police forces will maintain regular patrols within both cities, with eventual plans for their full integration into the national interior ministry structure. The entry operation into al-Hassakeh proceeded as scheduled on Monday without any reported outbreaks of violence or conflict.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan subsequently issued a strong warning to the SDF regarding the stability of the new arrangement. Erdogan stated in a televised address that any party attempting to sabotage the deal would be decisively crushed.
Turkey maintains a strategic alliance with the Syrian government in Damascus and officially views the SDF as an extension of the Kurdish militant group waging an insurgency within Turkey’s borders. This geopolitical alignment underscores Ankara’s interest in the fidelity of the Damascus-SDF agreement.
The initial deployment into al-Hassakeh signals a significant, albeit delicate, de-escalation in the complex Syrian conflict dynamic. The successful integration of administrative functions will test the durability of the security understanding between the two previously antagonistic parties.
