The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have expressed their willingness to deliver oil to the Damascus caretaker government, provided that wealth is distributed fairly among the Syrian provinces. They clarified their stance on the proposal for integration into the Syrian Ministry of Defense, stating that they will not dissolve themselves but can be incorporated into the Syrian army as a military bloc.
In an interview with Asharq channel on Tuesday, January 14, the commander of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi, stated that decentralization is the best option for the current reality in Syria, explaining that it does not contradict the concept of the unity of Syrian territory.
He added that the SDF is open to the idea of handing over the oil file to the central government in Damascus, on the condition of fair resource distribution.
Regarding the Turkish proposal to allow Ankara to fight the Islamic State group in Syria and monitor jails designated for the group’s fighters, Abdi commented that “there is a lack of a practical ground for this proposal, especially since the idea would not be accepted in the first place by the International Coalition.”
He clarified that they are open to linking the SDF with the Syrian Ministry of Defense, provided that it is as a military bloc within the formation, not as individuals joining the Ministry of Defense.
Abdi has repeatedly expressed his readiness to engage in military integration with the Syrian opposition. He stated on December 20, 2024, to the British newspaper “The Times” that his forces, consisting of 100,000 personnel, are ready to dissolve themselves and join the new Syrian army.
On his part, the commander of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa, stated that he agrees to merge all military factions in Syria under the umbrella of the Syrian Ministry of Defense, but he conditioned that this merger happens in the form of individuals, not groups.
In an interview with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya channel, he revealed that the SDF will join the Syrian Ministry of Defense, emphasizing that the Military Operations Administration is negotiating to resolve the crisis in northeastern Syria.
Previously, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), which is the political umbrella of the SDF, announced in the Social Contract unveiled at the end of 2023 its conditions for establishing relations with what it called the “Democratic Republic of Syria.”
The Social Contract states in Article 120 that “the form of the relationship in the Democratic Republic of Syria is defined between the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the center (Damascus) and other regions at all levels according to a consensual democratic constitution.”
It noted that this matter is subject to modification if there is an agreement on a “democratic constitution” in Syria.
The Autonomous Administration also stipulated that it should have a specific center and a specific flag that is raised alongside the flag of the “Democratic Republic of Syria.”
Simultaneously with negotiations, the results of which have not yet been revealed, the SDF is under pressure from factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) allied with Turkey, which continuously target the SDF both on the ground and in the air.
Turkey has repeatedly threatened that it has given the SDF a deadline to resolve its presence on its southern borders, which Ankara considers a threat to its national security, noting that it will remove the SDF from Syria itself if a solution “that ends the problem” is not reached.