Syria says talks with SDF have yielded no tangible results

ISTANBUL

Syria said Friday that talks with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have produced no tangible outcomes, despite repeated statements by the group that dialogue with Damascus is ongoing.

While the SDF leadership continues to signal engagement with the Syrian state, “these discussions have not resulted in concrete results,” a senior Foreign Ministry source told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), adding that such rhetoric appears aimed at media messaging and easing political pressure rather than moving toward implementation.

Repeated assertions about Syria’s unity conflict with conditions on the ground in the country’s northeast, where administrative, security, and military institutions operate outside state authority, entrenching division rather than resolving it, the source added.

The source said, “Current proposals for decentralization go beyond administrative arrangements into political and security decentralization that threatens state unity and entrenches de facto entities.”

The statement also said rhetoric about managing the northeastern region, where the SDF concentrates its forces, overlooks political exclusion, the concentration of decision-making power, and a lack of genuine representation of the area’s social diversity.

The SDF is dominated by the terrorist group YPG, the Syrian branch of the terrorist PKK.

On March 10, the Syrian presidency announced the signing of an agreement for the SDF’s integration into state institutions, reaffirming the country's territorial unity and rejecting any attempts at division.

Syrian authorities say that in the months since, the SDF has not shown any efforts to meet the terms of the agreement.

Officials in neighboring Türkiye have also stressed that the SDF must abide by the deal, warning that any security issues in Syria also affect Türkiye.