{"id":7491,"date":"2026-01-04T19:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T19:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7491"},"modified":"2026-01-04T19:00:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T19:00:47","slug":"syrian-government-and-kurdish-led-sdf-fail-to-progress-on-military-merger-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7491","title":{"rendered":"Syrian government and Kurdish-led SDF fail to progress on military merger | News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>A deal penned in March stipulated that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would integrate with state institutions by the end of the year, but its implementation has since stalled.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 4 Jan 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">4 Jan 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Syrian government officials have held talks with the commander of the main Kurdish-led force in the country over plans to merge it with the national army, state media reported, adding that no \u201ctangible results\u201d had been achieved.<\/p>\n<p>The Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement on Sunday that a delegation led by top commander\u00a0Mazloum Abdi (also known as Mazloum Kobani) held talks with government officials in Damascus related to the military integration process.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>A major sticking point has been whether the SDF would remain a cohesive unit in the new army or whether it would be dissolved and its members individually absorbed. The group has tens of thousands of fighters and is the main force yet to be absorbed into Syria\u2019s military.<\/p>\n<p>State TV said the meeting did not produce \u201ctangible results\u201d and that the sides agreed to hold further meetings at a later date.<\/p>\n<p>The leadership in Damascus under President Ahmed al-Sharaa inked a deal in March with the SDF, which controls large swathes of Syria\u2019s oil-rich north and northeast. The Kurdish-led force was to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025, but there have been disagreements on how it would happen.<\/p>\n<p>The deal also would bring all border crossings with Iraq and Turkiye, as well as airports and oil fields in the northeast, under the central government\u2019s control. Prisons holding about 9,000 suspected members of the ISIL (ISIS) group are also expected to come under government control.<\/p>\n<p>Turkiye considers the SDF a \u201cterrorist\u201d organisation because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long armed conflict on its soil, although a peace process is now under way.<\/p>\n<p>Ankara sees the presence of Kurdish forces on its border as a security threat and has publicly called for them to be integrated into the state, but not as a single unit.<\/p>\n<p>The SDF insists on a decentralised system of governance that would allow it to maintain its influence in the areas it controls. Tensions between the SDF and the government \u2013 which opposes calls for decentralisation \u2013 have occasionally led to violence.<\/p>\n<p>In late December, clashes broke out between security forces and SDF fighters in the northern city of Aleppo during a visit to Syria by Turkiye\u2019s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Fidan urged the SDF to not be an obstacle to Syria\u2019s stability and warned that patience with the group was running out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A deal penned in March stipulated that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would integrate with state institutions by the end of the year, but its implementation has since stalled. Published On 4 Jan 20264 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Syrian government officials have held talks with the commander of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}