Syrian minister rejects Kurdish-led SDF’s proposal for own military bloc

Syria's new Defense Minister, Muharhaf Abu Kasla, stated that the Kurdish forces supported by the United States in the northeast of the country should not retain an independent military group within the Syrian armed forces. In an interview with Reuters in Damascus, he pointed out that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurds, are dragging their feet in dealing with this complex issue.

The Syrian Democratic Forces have established a semi-autonomous region during the 14-year war. They have been negotiating with the new government led by former rebels who overthrew President Bashar al-Assad on December 8. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi stated that one of their core demands is a decentralized administration. In an interview with Saudi Arabia's Al Sharq News channel last week, he said that the SDF is willing to integrate with the Ministry of Defense, but as a "military group" and without disbanding.

Abu Kasla rejected this proposal on Sunday. He stated, "We believe that they should enter the Ministry of Defense at the level of the Ministry of Defense and be assigned in a military manner, we have no objection to this. However, for them to maintain a military group within the Ministry of Defense, such a group within a large institution is inappropriate." Abu Kasla was appointed Minister of Defense on December 21. One of his top priorities upon taking office is to integrate Syria's numerous anti-Assad factions into a unified command structure.

However, integration with the Syrian Democratic Forces has proven challenging. The United States considers the group a key ally in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), but neighboring Turkey considers the group to be linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a threat to its national security. Abu Kasla stated that he had met with SDF leaders but accused them of "procrastinating" in negotiations regarding integration, and said that incorporating them into the Ministry of Defense like other former rebel factions is "the right of the Syrian state."

Abu Kasla, whose rebel group "Sham Liberation Front" led the offensive to overthrow Assad, was appointed a member of the transitional government about two weeks later. He stated that he hopes to complete the integration process, including the appointment of some senior military figures, before the end of the transitional government's term on March 1. In response to criticism that the transitional committee should not make such appointments or make such large-scale reforms to the military infrastructure, he responded that "security concerns" prompted the new government to prioritize the matter. "We are in a race against time, every day is important," he said.

The new government has also been criticized for its decision to grant some foreigners, including Egyptians and Jordanians, ranks in the new army. Abu Kasla acknowledged that the decision had caused a strong reaction, but said he was not aware of any requests for the extradition of these foreign fighters.