Syria: The SDF obtains 30% of the Syrian military structures and forms the Northern Corps

Negotiation process currently underway between the Syria government and the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), as its leading to a preliminary agreement to form a new military entity called the “Northern Force”, which consists mainly of members of the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) deployed in northeastern Syria.

It fully oversees the security of northeast Syria, and this arrangement aims to create a coordinated military framework under a unified name that includes the SDF forces to oversee all of northeast Syria.

According to the information, the percentage of the SDF’s participation in the command structures and expanded military ranks has been set at 30% of executive positions in the Syrian army as well as in the counter-terrorism forces to be formed in Syria under the management of the Syrian army.

The choice of this percentage came in line with the reality of field control, as the SDF practically controls about 30% of Syria’s area, so it was proposed to distribute military and administrative quotas according to this criterion.

Meanwhile, there are plans that 30% of the Syrian army chief of staff will come from the SDF’s military commanders and symbols, while the rest of the structures will retain faces from other Syrian backgrounds.

There is a clear clause in the understandings that the Syrian General Security Forces and the regular forces won’t enter directly into northeastern Syria as part of this arrangement.

In the same context, a Kurdish source close to SDF leader, Mazloum Abdi and with direct knowledge of the US role in the negotiation issue between the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian government, revealed the features of a new agreement reached between the two parties after long rounds of discussions that took place under US pressure and sponsorship.

The US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, played a pivotal role in pushing the two sides to a common understanding formula, and that Washington used an approach based on parallel pressure on both sides, taking advantage of the power cards it has with each side.

The Syrian government had begun negotiations with an initial proposal to integrate SDF fighters as individuals within the Syrian army, with army units and general security forces entering the areas of northeastern Syria to impose their full presence.

However, this proposal was categorically rejected by the SDF, which considered that individual integration would empty it of its military and political structure that had been formed during the years of war.

New rounds of negotiations in Damascus, conducted last month under direct US auspices, led to major changes in the position of the two sides, resulting in a preliminary agreement that the SDF would receive a quota within the Syrian army, as well as a similar percentage within the counterterrorism forces.

In a parallel context, a Syrian source close to Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Murhaf Abu Qasra revealed that the Syrian transitional president’s visit to Washington and his meeting with US President Donald Trump constituted an important turning point in the course of the ongoing understandings between Damascus and the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF).

This prominent political event rearranged the balance of power within the negotiation process, and gave Damascus an additional impetus to strengthen its conditions, in light of the growing US conviction of the need to reach a final formula that would end the stalemate in the northeastern Syrian issue.

As for the internal security forces that will be present in the northeastern region of Syria, they will be members of the Asayish, which are Kurdish elements who are now working in the internal security function in northeastern Syria, according to the Kurdish source close to Mazloum Abdi.

A source in the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that the most sensitive issue related to the Syrian Ministry of Interior in the northeastern regions of the country has been the focus of a complex discussion between the two parties.

The SDF has asserted that it has internal security forces capable of managing security affairs and civil services for the population, and that there is no need for the Syrian General Security Forces to return to those areas, while Damascus has insisted that internal security is an essential part of the state’s sovereignty and cannot be abandoned.

According to the source, the agreed upon way out is that the Kurdish Asayish forces will take over the management of internal security in northeastern Syria, but within the framework of full coordination with the Syrian Ministry of Interior, and through joint central committees concerned with security issues, the fight against ISIS, and the organization of the mechanisms of work between the two parties.

This mechanism is carried out under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior and its minister, Anas Khattab, while ensuring the continuation of some form of formal sovereignty over these areas.

The source close to the Syrian Minister of Defense confirmed that the formulation of the coordination between the SDF and the Ministry of Interior guarantees the SDF an official role in the management of security and services, while maintaining the unity of decision and Syrian sovereignty, and that this formula represents a compromise that satisfies both parties.

As for the role of the United States, the source close to the Syrian defense minister said that the United States has exerted pressure on the Damascus government through the Northeast Syria card, specifically through the influence of the SDF, which seeks to stabilize the model of decentralization in the areas under its control, a demand that Washington considers essential for any future understanding.

On the other hand, the US administration used the Syrian government’s own card to pressure the SDF, as it told its leaders that Damascus was continuing to open all the issues of the Syrian state, and that the opportunity to reach an agreement should be seized before moving on to more sensitive stages that affect the form of governance and the administration of the areas.

The inclusion of the SDF forces within the structure of the Syrian army represents the first stage of a path of longer and deeper understandings between the SDF and Damascus, which will be followed by the discussion of other outstanding issues, on top of which is the form of the Syrian government’s administration in the areas of northeastern Syria, the education, health, and public services, in addition to determining the limits of the administrative powers that the SDF will retain within the decentralization model it demands.

As for the political role of the SDF’s leading figures, Mazloum Abdi won’t assume any official position within the unified Syrian Army or the Chief of Staff, but will remain in a symbolic position as the historical leader of the SDF.

The negotiating parties preferred to keep some local symbols out of the official ladder of the military leadership, as an internal reassurance measure, as it was described.

The source in the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that the Syrian goal in not including Mazloum Abdi in the Syrian army is to integrate the SDF members as soldiers within the official military institution and not as a bloc that has an independent political or military orientation or has a specific symbol within the army, in order to ensure the unity of the military decision and the state’s monopoly on the use of force, while the official recognition of the SDF gives a symbolic role that protects its interests.

The agreement in its current form is largely satisfactory to the SDF, because it gives it official recognition of its role in the fight against terrorism, ensures that part of the influence of its leaders remains within the army bodies, takes into account the US sensitivity to the future of the Kurdish areas, and at the same time protects the Syrian state from any risks related to division or separatist tendencies.