A showdown is gathering rhythm in Syria while the new leaders of the country ask that a powerful Kurdish guidance militia supported by the United States disarm and integrated into unified national military force.
Tensions are focused on preparations to establish a guardian government to replace the dictatorship which decreased in early December. The new leaders want the Kurdish militia, the Syrian democratic forces, undertake to give up her weapons as a condition to be included in a national dialogue. The dialogue should lead to the formation of an administration that rules until the elections can be organized.
The dialogue on the political future of Syria will be held during a conference, but no date has yet been set. Hassan al-Daghim, head of the committee appointed by the government in charge of planning the dialogue, declared on Thursday that armed groups would not have been included “unless weapons are arranged and integrates” under the Ministry of Defense. “This is a fundamental problem,” he added.
This position raised the prospect that the Kurdish guidance administration has connected to the Syrian democratic forces and effectively controls an autonomous region in north-eastern Syria could be excluded from national dialogue and any national guardian government.
THE The Syrian democratic forces have constantly refused to lay the arms since the dictator Bashar al-Assad has been ousted. The militia, which is mainly made up of members of the Kurdish ethnic minority, was the main American partner in the fight in Syria against the Islamic State Terrorist Group, which was largely defeated in 2019 after taking parts of the country.
The persistent threat of the Islamic State in Syria has remained an international key concern, in particular among western countries.
Thursday during a conference in Paris to help coordinate global support for the construction of the state in Syria, President Emmanuel Macron in France urged the provisional authorities to reach a détento with the Kurdish forces, which he defined “precious allies” who must be integrated into the new political system.
In the following years to which he contributed to rejecting ISIS, the Kurdish guided militia consolidated control over cities in north-eastern Syria and often turned upon to be shocked with the forces supported by the Turk there in the middle of the vortex of political and ethnic divisions in the country.
Turkey, a close ally of the rebel group that led the reversal of Al-Assad and formed the provisional government, has tried for years to curb the power of the Syrian democratic forces, claiming that the militia is linked to the insurgents of Kurdish separatists in the Tacchino interior.
Ever since the rebels seized the control of the Syrian capital, Damascus, in December, fighting among the forces supported by the Turkish and the Syrian democratic forces with Curda Guide have continued to vanish in the north-east.
The interim government forces are too tense, the experts say, and have not yet obtained control over the whole country, including the region administered in Kurdish there.
Manbij, a city near the border with Turkey, with Turkey, was a focal point of the fighting between Turkish -based forces and led by Curi. The forces with Turkish sustenance have torn the control of the city from the militia led by Curi in December.
Negotiating the end of the skirmishes has become among the most urgent challenges for the new leaders of Syria.
The rebellious coalition that overturned the Al-Assad government appointed its boss, Ahmad al-Shara, as a temporary president and has set up an interim government led by officials of a regional administration that had previously managed in the northern province of Idlib .
In this way, the rebellious coalition became the government party actually of Syria. However, Al-Shara has undertaken to create an inclusive political process, to elaborate a new Constitution and establish a guardian administration that will govern the country to the elections, which he has been able to take years to establish.
Thursday, Al-Shara has inaugurated the committee of seven members who will plan the national dialogue with respect to a new guardian government. The Committee was commissioned to choose the participants for the conference based on the skills and public influence and reflect on the diversity of Syria, although there are no shares set for the participation of any group.
Mr. Al-Daghim, head of the committee, underlined that point in a press conference on Thursday.
“Nobody will be invited according to religion, institutional ties or party filiation,” he promised.
However, most of the members of the Management Committee has strong ties with Al-Shara and its rebellious coalition, feeding the concerns for its promises of inclusiveness in the political process.
In recent weeks, many other militias have agreed to dissolve their forces but, in negotiations with the provisional government, Kurdish guidelines have gone to be joined in the army as a single military block that can continue to patrol the North Syria -oriental. They also pushed to ensure that Kurdish will be made the official language of the north -east of Syria and that their leaders will continue to administer northern Syria -eastern.
Tensions between the Kurdish forces and the leadership of Damascus come between the uncertainty about Washington’s role in the region. The American support for the Kurdish militia was crucial to keep threats from the Islamic State in Syria at bay.
But President Trump has not made any commitment to continue supporting the group from his inauguration last month.
By underlining the changing situation, a freezing of funding for US international aid in January threatened chaos in a Syrian field that hosts thousands of ISIS fighters and family members. The freezing led to a group depending on the American support to provide services and safety in the field to briefly stop its work.
Thursday at the Paris conference, Macron urged the interim government of Syria to reach an agreement with the Kurdish forces.
“Syria must continue very clearly to fight against all terrorist organizations that are spreading chaos,” said Macron, adding that cooperation with the guided forces in Curda would be essential to do it.
Addressing the new leaders of Syria, he said that their responsibility towards the Kurdish fighters was “integrating them and also allowing these forces to join”.
Alissa J. Rubin Contributed relationships.