Syria’s defense minister says Damascus is open to talks with Kurdish-led forces on their integration into the national army but stands ready to use force should negotiations fail.
“The door to negotiation with the (Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces) is currently open,” Murhaf Abu Qasra tells reporters. “If we have to use force, we will be ready.”
Last month, an official told AFP that an SDF delegation had met Syria’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who heads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that spearheaded the rebel offensive that ousted Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa had told Al Arabiya television that Kurdish-led forces should be integrated into the new national army so that weapons are “in the hands of the state alone.”
The US-backed SDF spearheaded the military campaign that ousted the Islamic State jihadist group from its last territory in Syria in 2019. The group controls much of the oil-producing northeast, where it has enjoyed de facto autonomy for more than a decade.
“They offered us oil, but we don’t want oil, we want the institutions and the borders,” Abu Qasra says.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this