Enab Baladi – Khaled al-Jeratli

Since the agreement between the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, and the head of the Syrian interim government, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the announcement of a plan to fully integrate the SDF into the Syrian Ministry of Defense has become one of the most eagerly anticipated developments in the Syrian political landscape.

While the two parties agreed on March 10 to merge the military institutions of the SDF and the civil institutions (Autonomous Administration) into the Syrian ministries, Turkey continues to object to the presence of certain factions listed on terrorism lists within the SDF, demanding their dissolution.

Previously, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had called for the People’s Protection Units (YPG) to immediately relinquish their weapons and for the other components of the SDF to merge into the Syrian Ministry of Defense, a demand that remains valid even after the Abdi-al-Sharaa agreement, with Turkey expressing its support for the agreement.

On March 15, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency, Fidan called for the exclusion of all “armed elements involved in terrorist activities from the equation in Syria.”

Through Turkish statements over the years, Ankara judges the SDF solely on the basis of the People’s Protection Units, which is the military wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), while the Turkish government ignores the other military components in the faction located in northeastern Syria.

The SDF includes military factions that previously belonged to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), along with several military councils in the cantons, according to the administrative division in the region, but the People’s Protection Units remain its mainstay.

SDF, SDC, and AANES

The SDF controls approximately 25% of Syria’s territory, which is rich in energy and agricultural resources. The mechanism of control is divided into three levels: the first is military, represented by the Syrian Democratic Forces established in 2015, with the People’s Protection Units forming its cornerstone, alongside other factions.

In terms of administrative and service levels, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) acts as the government in the region, from which authorities emerge to replace ministries in ordinary governments, forming even the sovereign sector of any government, such as the Defense Authority, Foreign Relations Authority, and Internal Authority.

There is a third entity in the region which provides a political umbrella for both the SDF and AANES, known as the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC).

The SDC defines itself on its official website as “a national democratic Syrian framework comprised of social and political forces and independent individuals who agree with its documents.”

It added, “The Syrian Democratic Council is the political umbrella and the unifier of the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces, and it is the driving force for any negotiation process, based on its conviction that the option of a political solution through negotiations is the only way to save the country.”

YPG: A problematic point

The militarization in northeastern Syria has become a contentious point for the new Syrian government, particularly in its relationship with Turkey, which still demands the dissolution of the People’s Protection Units, the largest entity within the SDF, while not opposing the other military currents of the SDF remaining within the Syrian Ministry of Defense.

The SDF consists of two main military blocs: the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), both of which are Kurdish military factions that emerged with the rise of military factions of various orientations in Syria after 2012.

The YPG form the backbone of the SDF, and they are the contentious issue in integrating the SDF into the Syrian Ministry of Defense, as they dominate military decision-making within the faction, with their leaders forming the cornerstone of decision-making centers in the SDF.

The YPG were established in 2004 and claim on their official website that they are “the official army of the Rojava Union in Northern Syria.”

In the “About Us” section of their website, the YPG state that they were established following “the attacks of the Syrian Baath regime in 2004,” referring to the Baath regime’s repression of the Kurdish uprising at that time.

The YPG began as small groups with limited organization aimed at protecting the areas inhabited by Kurds from attacks.

After successfully organizing themselves in all the cities of northeastern Syria and gaining combat experience, the People’s Protection Units were officially established in 2011, according to their official website.

The YPG are currently active in Afrin, Ayn al-Arab/Kobani, al-Hasakah, and the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo.

The YPG are associated with the Democratic Union Party, as a military wing, although they present themselves as a military current independent of any political party.

In a previous interview with Enab Baladi, researcher Osama Sheikh Ali from the Omran Center for Strategic Studies attributed the continuation of battles in eastern Aleppo despite an agreement for calm to the fact that areas east of the Euphrates are under US influence, while those west of it are outside this influence, and the region is considered under the control of the People’s Protection Units, which are listed as “terrorists” in Ankara.

He added that Turkey is trying to empty both sides of the Euphrates from the YPG.

The researcher then considered that uncertainty plays a role in the continuation of battles since there is no full credibility that the SDF will engage in a final agreement, which can be seen as a state of “neither peace nor war.”

YPJ: An ideological faction

The Turkish stance, as well as the position of the new Syrian administration, towards the People’s Protection Units (YPG), also applies to the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), as the YPJ is viewed as having emerged from the YPG.

The Women’s Protection Units state on their official website that they were founded to “achieve the necessary change in the social fabric of the Rojava region in northern Syria when the revolution sparked there.”

They add that their establishment came with various goals and aims, including “defending national rights, women’s rights, and achieving social justice among all components of the region.”

The YPJ considers AANES to be its political reference, and every member of the faction joins on a voluntary basis, “in order to protect national interests, educate women, break the chains of slavery and backwardness imposed upon them, and stand against all cases of sexual, cultural, and moral assault practiced against them in Western Kurdistan and Syria.”

The Women’s Protection Units participated in most military operations against the Islamic State alongside security and military campaigns throughout northeastern Syria, as well as the battles the SDF fought against Turkey in northern Syria.

Member of the general leadership of the Women’s Protection Units, Rohlat Afrin, appeared at the latest meeting between the SDF and the Damascus administration, alongside Mazloum Abdi; on the other side, the head of the committee from the Syrian government, Hussein Salama, who is the former governor of Deir Ezzor, attended.

Military councils

According to a study by the Omran Center for Strategic Studies published in 2017, the SDF is managed through a strict organizational structure led by the military council, which is the highest military authority within the forces.

The council includes representatives from all military factions and formations and is responsible for making strategic decisions related to war and peace, electing the commander-in-chief, and setting the objectives of the forces according to the field conditions.

According to the internal regulations of the SDF, which were provided through its official website, the general leadership consists of the commander-in-chief, his deputies, and representatives from the core components, which include the People’s Protection Units, Women’s Protection Units, Syriac Military Council, al-Sanadid Forces, Army of Revolutionaries, Democratic Northern Brigade, and the Kurdish Front.

Additionally, two representatives from other military councils are appointed during the annual meeting of military councils.

The general leadership is also linked to the advisory office, which coordinates relations with the institutions of AANES, as well as political and social organizations, and it is connected to the military coordination and operations center that coordinates work with friendly forces (International Coalition).

The SDF also includes other regional military councils that focus on protecting their areas, such as the Deir Ezzor Military Council, Manbij Council, and Raqqa Council.

In a previous interview with Enab Baladi, researcher specializing in northeastern Syria, Samer al-Ahmad, stated that actual control over military and security decisions within the SDF belongs to leaders from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who hold sensitive positions in the intelligence agency, the HAT forces (special forces), and the People’s Protection Units.

He added that these leaders are often not Syrian, but rather belong to other nationalities like Turkish or Iranian.

Badr Mulla Rashid, director of the Raman Center for Studies, noted that the SDF adopted, after its main battles against the Islamic State ended in 2019, a policy of distributing its fighters into small groups instead of operating in large formations.

He clarified that this policy is not new, as it has been in use for a long time, where the forces deploy these small groups over wide areas, enabling them to control military fronts, as he previously told Enab Baladi.

YPG, YPJ: A problem for Damascus also

The presence of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) is not only a problematic point for Ankara but is also a problem needing resolution from Damascus’s perspective, a matter yet to reach agreement among the parties, according to researcher Anas Shawakh, specialized in northeastern Syria at the Jusoor for Studies Center.

Shawakh mentioned to Enab Baladi that reaching an agreement to end the presence of the YPG and YPJ in the SDF before their integration into the Syrian Ministry of Defense is difficult, especially since they represent the backbone of the SDF, and it can be practically seen that the SDF is essentially the combination of these two units.

He added that the presence of the leader of the Women’s Protection Units, Rohlat Afrin, at a recent SDF-Damascus meeting indicates her leadership’s unwillingness to negotiate the military presence of the YPJ.

The researcher pointed out that the SDF is trying to maintain itself, with its military composition consisting of the units, as a military bloc within the Ministry of Defense, but these attempts will collide with Damascus’s vision and, naturally, with Turkey’s opposition.