French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke with Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, on Friday, according to Rudaw Media Network, a news channel in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq.
The SDF is the main military force in eastern Syria, and it played a key role in defeating ISIS. It has been backed by the US-led coalition against ISIS.
The SDF is also weighing how it may be integrated into the new Syrian security forces of the Syrian government. Abdi flew to Damascus in March to meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. But there have been some controversies that have slowed down talk of integration.
Among the challenges for the SDF is that it has watched what happened to the Druze in Sweida and wonder if Damascus will also unleash extremists to attack Kurds. Kurds make up the bulk of the SDF fighters, and they live mostly in eastern Syria.
In the past, extremists in Syria have killed Kurds and ethnically cleansed them from the area of Afrin in northwest Syria. Therefore, the SDF is wary.
France wants to play a role in hosting talks aimed at Syrian units. As such, Barrot held the talks with Abdi.
He also “reiterated France’s support for Syrian Kurds, according to the French Foreign Ministry,” Rudaw reported.
“This exchange provided an opportunity to confirm the upcoming holding in Paris of a negotiation session between the Syrian transitional authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces with a view to implement the March 10 agreement, under the auspices of France and the United States,” read a statement from the French Foreign Ministry. “The minister reiterated France’s support for defining a negotiated and peaceful solution for the unification of Syria, the integration of the population of northeastern Syria into the political transition process, and the guarantee of Kurdish rights.”
Barrot also met with US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack. Many issues are in motion.
Barrack has previously urged the SDF to move faster to integrate. However, the clashes in Sweida in July caught Barrack by surprise.
Israel carried out airstrikes on Damascus to deter the Syrian government from harming the Druze. There are now reports of Israel-Syria talks aimed at reducing tensions.
According to the French Foreign Ministry and Rudaw, Barrow had met with Barrack and also Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani. The SDF was on the agenda. It is assumed that Israel was likely mentioned as well.
“Senior Israeli and Syrian ministers met in Paris for four hours on Thursday under the auspices of President Trump’s special envoy Tom Barrack and discussed de-escalation of tensions between the countries,” Axios reported.
THIS ILLUSTRATES how connected many of these issues are.
Rudaw reported: “Kurdish leaders have voiced concern over the centralization of power and the prominence of Islamic law in the transitional constitution adopted by Syria’s interim government. They have repeatedly denied accusations of separatism and have called instead for federalism. Kurds held a national conference earlier this year, calling for decentralization.”
The big question is whether France will also pressure the SDF to move faster. France has a long history of sympathy for Kurds in the region. France is also the former colonial power of Syria and Lebanon. As such it has a unique role to play.
France's unique role
France is also in the spotlight for backing a Palestinian state. The talks in Paris were in support of “full integration,” Rudaw reported.
However, “handing over weapons is a redline. It is not possible to hand over weapons,” Farhad Shami, head of SDF media center, told Syria’s Alyaum TV on Wednesday, according to Rudaw..
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, a state-run news agency reported: “Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan expressed concern about developments in Syria, particularly clashes between Druze and Bedouin groups in the south, warning that tensions could pose a threat to the country’s unity and integrity.”
Fidan said Ankara had sought to reduce tensions in Syria, and that Ankara remains committed to “Syria’s unity and territorial integrity,” the report said.
Ankara also said it wants to see the SDF integrate into the Syrian government.
France24 reported: “Paris will host talks between Syria, France, and the United States ‘as soon as possible’ to integrate the autonomous Kurdish administration into the Syrian state. The Kurds control large swaths of northeast Syria and are negotiating with the central government in Damascus on the integration of their civil and military institutions into the national framework.”
In eastern Syria, the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), which is the civilian component of the SDF, has rejected pressure being brought on the region to integrate faster.
“A planned meeting in Paris between Syria’s government and the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria has been postponed without explanation, the Kurdish delegation said on Thursday, as tensions persist over the future of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces,” London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported.
“The talks, originally scheduled for Friday with participation from the US envoy to Syria, French foreign minister, and representatives from Britain and Germany, were seen as part of a Western-backed effort to revive negotiations between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria,” the report said.
Syria is the center of many threads. It links Kurdish issues to Iraq and also to Turkey. It links Turkish backing of the Syrian government to Ankara’s influence over proxies in northern Syria. It is also linked to the Druze and Israel.
France is seeking to play a larger role in these issues and the region.