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Among the continuous influx of bad news there's been a positive development recently in Syria: Ahmed al-Sharaa's government and the Kurdish-centric SDF hammered out a deal for the latter to be integrated in the new Syrian state. This was surprising for a lot of reasons, but the main one from my POV was the presence of former Turkish-backed militias among the troops that had been sent to the east and north of the country. 🧵 1/4

https://understandingwar.org/research/middle-east/iran-update-february-1-2026/

#Syria #SDF

Gabriele Svelto

@gabrielesvelto@mas.to replied · 5 days ago

When the government moved against SDF-held territory it seemed like violence would be inevitable. The Arab components of the SDF quickly and unsurprisingly defected to the Syrian army, and given the latter included several groups that had been Turkish-backed militias, it seemed that intercommunal would be inevitable. These groups were responsible for various crimes against civilians and were considered little more than bandits given a bunch of uniforms. 2/4

https://newlinesinstitute.org/global-security-mil-priorities/the-gangs-of-northern-syria-life-under-turkeys-proxies/

New Lines Institute

The Gangs of Northern Syria: Life Under Turkey’s Proxies - New Lines Institute

Turkey’s proxy force, the Syrian National Army, was meant to further Turkey’s ambitions in Syria. Instead, the force has victimized Syrian civilians living in the areas under its control and damaged Turkey’s reputation as the group defies Ankara’s attempts to rein it in.

Gabriele Svelto

@gabrielesvelto@mas.to replied · 5 days ago

So one surprising aspect of the deal is that civilians that had been displaced in the Turkish-backed offensives in the north will be able to return to their lands. The reason why they were displaced in the first place was planned ethnic cleansing as Turkey's intended to repopulate those areas with displaced Syrians from other regions. Whether those responsible will be made accountable is hard to say. 3/4

Gabriele Svelto

@gabrielesvelto@mas.to replied · 5 days ago

The Kurds did not obtain a federal state like they wished, and the reason why they lost a lot of leverage was how fast the SDF disintegrated. That's entirely on them as the SDF had its own issues and its Arab components were not keen of being essentially under Kurdish leadership. The alliance was never one among equals and was formed only thanks to US pressure, as the US wanted a mixed force to hold the territories that had been occupied by ISIS. 4/4

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