Erdogan urges Syria’s Kurds to integrate with new government, in wake of truce announcement

By AFP 8 October 2025, 3:10 pm

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Mourners attend the funeral in Qamishly of two Kurdish Syrian Democratic forces (SDF) fighters, killed days earlier in battle with Turkish-backed Syrian forces in the northern city of Manbij, on January 2, 2025. (Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urges Syrian Kurds to “complete their integration” with Syria’s new government after the announcement of a comprehensive ceasefire.

“The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) must keep their word. They must complete their integration with Syria,” Erdogan tells Turkish journalists late Tuesday on board a plane returning from Azerbaijan.

Syria announced a comprehensive ceasefire with Kurdish forces after a meeting on Tuesday between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi that followed deadly clashes in the northern city of Aleppo.

Syria’s authorities, who took power last year after overthrowing Bashar al-Assad, have rejected Kurdish demands for a decentralized government.

The issue has added to tensions with the Kurdish administration that controls swathes of the north and northeast, while differences between the two sides have held up implementation of a March 10 deal on integrating the Kurds’ civil and military institutions into the state.

Erdogan said: “Syria’s territorial integrity is non-negotiable for us. We cannot accept any stance against this.”

Turkey has been a key backer of Syria’s new rulers, led by Sharaa.