Syria says Sharaa, Trump discuss Kurdish rights as forces deploy in country’s north, east

RAQQA, Syria - Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump discussed guaranteeing Kurdish rights in a phone call on Jan 19, Syria’s presidency said, a day after Damascus reached a deal with Kurdish forces including a truce
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Mr Sharaa met Mr Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, to discuss the agreement, which includes integrating the Kurds’ administration into the state, but a Kurdish source with knowledge of the talks told AFP they were not positive.

Analysts said the deal – following rapid government gains in Kurdish-controlled territory after driving Kurdish fighters out of Aleppo city earlier January – marked a blow for the minority’s long-held ambitions of preserving the de facto autonomy they had exercised in swathes of north and north-east Syria for over a decade.

In the phone call, Mr Sharaa and Mr Trump, “emphasised the need to guarantee the Kurdish people’s rights and protection within the framework of the Syrian state”, the Syrian presidency said.

They “affirmed the importance of preserving the unity and independence of Syrian territory” and discussed “cooperation on combating” the Islamic State jihadist group, it added.

Requesting anonymity, the Kurdish source with knowledge of Jan 19’s talks between Mr Sharaa and Mr Abdi said differences concerned “the mechanism for implementing the terms of the agreement”.

Despite the ceasefire, brief clashes erupted on the evening of Jan 19 in Raqqa city, with an AFP correspondent hearing heavy bombardment.

Using another name for the Islamic State group, the SDF said government forces shelled the Al-Aqtan prison “which holds ISIS members and leaders, in an attempt to storm it”.

Raqa was once the jihadist group’s de facto capital in Syria.

A defence ministry source later told AFP that the clashes had halted, without elaborating.

‘Stability’

The Jan 18 agreement included the Kurdish administration’s immediate handover of Arab-majority Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces to the government, which will also take responsibility for IS prisoners and their families held in Kurdish-run jails and camps.

A defence ministry map published on Jan 19 showed the government controlled all of Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces, while the eastern parts of Hasakeh province were still under Kurdish control.

In Deir Ezzor province, an AFP correspondent saw military vehicles heading east of the Euphrates, while cars and pedestrians waited at a bridge leading to the eastern bank.

Driver Mohammed Khalil, 50, told AFP that “we hope things will be better than before. There was... no freedom” under the SDF.

Teacher Safia Keddo, 49, said that “we’re not asking for a miracle, we just want stability and a normal life”.

Authorities announced a curfew in Hasakeh province’s Shadadi after the army said the SDF released IS detainees from the town’s prison, while the Kurds said they lost control of the facility after an attack by Damascus.

The sides had earlier traded blame for attacks that the military said killed three soldiers.

The SDF had seized swathes of Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces as they expelled IS during Syria’s civil war, supported by an international coalition led by Washington.

‘Protecting civilian lives’

The AFP correspondent in Raqa said residents toppled a statue of a woman erected by Kurdish forces.

Raqa resident Khaled al-Afnan, 34, said “we support Kurdish civil rights... but we don’t support them having a military role”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a close ally of Damascus who is hostile to the SDF, hailed Syria’s army for its “careful” offensive despite what he called “provocations”.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas instead said “all military activities must cease immediately”.

The SDF on Jan 18 withdrew from areas under its control including the Al-Omar oil field, the country’s largest, and the Tanak field.

Local fighters from tribes in the Arab-majority Deir Ezzor province sided with Damascus and seized the areas before the arrival of government forces.

Some Arab tribes were previously allied with the SDF, which included a significant Arab component.

The SDF’s Mr Abdi said on Jan 18 he agreed to the deal to avoid civil war and end a conflict “imposed” on the Kurds.

Mr Mutlu Civiroglu, a Washington-based analyst and expert on the Kurds, said the government’s advance had raised “serious doubts about the durability” of the ceasefire and a March agreement between the government and the Kurds.

Mr Sharaa had on Jan 16 issued a decree granting the Kurds official recognition
, but the Kurds said it fell short of their expectations.

In Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country’s northeast, activist Hevi Ahmed, 40, said the Jan 18 deal was “a disappointment after years of hope that the Syrian constitution might contain a better future for the Kurds”. AFP