BEIRUT, January 26. /TASS/. The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) do not seek separatist goals and have no intention of creating ‘a state within a state.’ They support the territorial integrity of the country, SDF General Mazloum Abdi said.
"We talk about Syria as a single entity. We are for a single Syria, and we are not seeking separatist goals. Many believe that we are trying to create two armies in the country, a kind of state within a state. But we do not harbor such ambitions," he said in an interview with the Hawar News Agency (ANHA).
The commander added that the Syrian Democratic Forces advocate dialogue with the new Syrian authorities and "are working to integrate the regions of the country [under their control] into the political process" to ensure the future functioning of Syria.
Armed opposition units in Syria launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates in late November 2024. On December 8, they entered Damascus, while President Bashar Assad stepped down and fled the country. On December 10, Mohammed al-Bashir, who had led the so-called Syrian Salvation Government in the Idlib governorate, announced his appointment as head of Syria’s interim government, saying that the transitional period would last until March 1, 2025. The leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (outlawed in Russia), Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has become Syria’s de facto new leader.
On January 6, the Hurriyet newspaper reported that Syria's new authorities had ordered Kurdish forces to lay down their arms. On January 22, Syria's acting Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Kasra said that the Syrian Democratic Forces could become part of the future armed forces. According to him, "there is no talk of the Syrian Democratic Forces becoming an independent Kurdish corps; such an option is unacceptable for the Defense Ministry."
The Kurds control 25% of Syria's territory, including most of Raqqa and Al-Hasakah governorates, as well as the northeastern part of Deir ez-Zor governorate, where oil fields are located. In 2015, the US established at least nine military bases in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces.