While southern Syria remains a current focus of attention in light of the Syrian Government’s ongoing offensive across Daraa Province, emerging yet underreported developments in the north of the country represent other important inroads for the future of the Syrian Conflict. In recent days, there have been a flurry of reports indicating that the Syrian Government has accelerated the pace of its negotiations with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the areas under its control, collectively known as the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria.
On Tuesday, BBC reporter Riam Dalati reported that a number of government officials have recently visited Raqqa to assess the city’s damage, particularly in former government and security buildings. There have also been reports of the SDF in Qamishli City, located on the border with Turkey in north-eastern Syria, engaging in “major refurbishment for the beautification of the city,” which involved the removal of many symbols of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the posters of Abdullah Öcalan, causing some observers to speculate more talks are in progress. These rumours were further fuelled by footage of a number of SDF fighters in Raqqa City shouting pro-Assad slogans, although the authenticity of the footage cannot be verified. At present, the primary speculation suggests that the SAA will be deployed in border cities (such as Qamishli, Kobani, Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn) in order to prevent further Turkish entry into northern Syria.
While this would represent an interesting turn by the SDF towards the Syrian Government, this is not wholly unprecedented. As we wrote previously, northern Syria has become a regional melting pot, with a panoply of regional and local actors contesting key SDF-held cities such as Manbij in the country’s north. Given the ambiguity surrounding the US’ future support for the SDF, especially as this alliance has fractured the former’s relationship with its NATO ally Turkey, the SDF may be looking to ensure its survival in some form or another and may perceive the Syrian Government as its most prominent outlet for this. Furthermore, during the Turkish-backed operations against the YPG in Afrin back in February, the YPG agreed to hand over control of the prominent Sheikh Maqsoud District of Aleppo City in exchange for safe passage out of the city towards Afrin in order to combat the Turkish-backed forces. The YPG also permitted the entry and support of the pro-Government National Defence Forces (NDF) into Afrin, thus highlighting how the two sides can indeed reach agreements of convenience.
For more information on this subject and other developments in Syria, read our daily report