2026-04-28T11:14:14+00:00

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Shafaq News- Damascus

Syria’s deputy defense minister for the eastern
region denied Tuesday that a separate Kurdish military structure is being
established in Afrin, stating that recruitment of Kurdish youth into the Syrian
Arab Army remains voluntary and on an individual basis.

Brigadier General Samer Awso —also known by his
Kurdish name Sipan Hamo— said discussions underway concern opening enlistment
to Kurdish youth from Afrin and Kurdish residents of Al-Hasakah province, not
the creation of an autonomous military body. Any recruits, he said, would be
absorbed into existing army formations rather than organized into a distinct
unit.

Awso is a founding member of the People’s
Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdish force that formed the military backbone of
the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the primary armed group controlling
northeastern Syria under a semi-autonomous administration. He was appointed to
his current post earlier this year as part of confidence-building measures
following a January integration agreement between Damascus and the SDF.

The agreement, reached on January 30 after weeks
of fighting in which Syrian government forces seized large swaths of SDF-held
territory in the northeast, requires the full integration of SDF forces and
institutions into the defense and interior ministries. It also covers the
return of displaced populations and the handover of strategic assets, including
oil fields and airports.

Ahmad al-Hilali, spokesman for the presidential
team overseeing the process, said a high-level meeting was held in Aleppo
province on April 15 covering two core files: the return of displaced persons,
and the modalities of integrating the SDF into Syrian state institutions.

The meeting followed a Damascus encounter on
April 14 between Syrian transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum
Abdi, attended also by senior Kurdish political figure Ilham Ahmed, Foreign
Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, and the presidential envoy. Al-Hilali said the
talks reaffirmed that integration is a national sovereignty track to be pursued
within state institutions and in a manner that preserves Syria’s territorial
unity.