SDF chief, US envoy meeting to ‘accelerate' SDF-Damascus deal: Kurdish-led council
2000 ISIS militants active in Syria's desert: Brigade spox
Turkey demolishes historic military base amid peace talks with PKK
US-backed forces to launch anti-ISIS operation in Syria: Brigade spox
Syria expects to elect new parliament in August: Official
A+ A-
DAMASCUS - An anticipated meeting between Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) chief Mazloum Abdi and US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack will 'accelerate' talks between the Kurdish-led northeast Syria (Rojava) administration and Damascus to implement a landmark March agreement, the SDF's political wing said on Wednesday.
Abdi and Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a landmark agreement on March 10 to integrate the SDF into the Syrian state apparatus. The agreement recognizes the Kurds as an integral part of Syria, includes a countrywide ceasefire, and stipulates the return of displaced Syrians to their hometowns.
'We are awaiting an upcoming meeting between the US Envoy Thomas Barrack and General Mazloum Abdi. I believe that after this meeting, the discussions will accelerate and we will enter the phase of implementing the [SDF-Damascus] agreement,' Ali Rahmun, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) representative in Damascus, told Rudaw.
The SDC serves as the political wing of the Kurdish-led and US-backed SDF, the de facto army of Rojava.
Rahmun said that while it was agreed to form delegations between Rojava and Damascus to implement the agreement, 'disputes between the current [Damascus] authorities' have delayed practical steps.
In June, a Rojava delegation met with a Syrian government-appointed committee to finalize the Abdi-Sharaa agreement's implementation. The Rojava administration described the meeting as 'positive and constructive,' with a focus on resolving exam-related issues and safeguarding students' rights and the integrity of the education system.
Kurds in Rojava, like other minorities in Syria, are concerned about the centralization of power and reliance on Islamic jurisprudence in the transitional constitution that has been adopted by the interim government in Damascus.
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to form an 'inclusive transitional government that would reflect Syria's diversity,' but has faced domestic and international criticism that he has marginalized minority communities.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Shafaq News
4 hours ago
- Shafaq News
Kurdistan accuses Baghdad of systematic discrimination
Shafaq News – Erbil A senior official in the Kurdish government (KRG) accused the federal government in Baghdad on Thursday of systematically stripping the Region's citizens of their basic rights over the past three years, describing the ongoing salary crisis as only one aspect of broader political and economic injustices. In a statement, the official said it was 'regrettable' that public sector salaries in Kurdistan had become a tool of political pressure. He characterized Baghdad's approach as a deliberate strategy of impoverishment and a flagrant violation of the Iraqi constitution, aimed at undermining the dignity of Kurdish citizens and deepening national divisions. The official cited figures to illustrate the shortfall in financial transfers. In 2023, the federal government sent only 4.698T IQD (about $3.5B) to the Region—representing just 28.5% of what was owed. In 2024, that figure rose to 10.026T IQD (about $7.6B), covering 47.9% of entitlements. So far in 2025, only 3.829T IQD (about $3B) have been received, which accounts for just 18.3% of the Region's 20.910T IQD (about $15.9B) entitlement. According to the KRG, no less than one trillion dinars should be transferred each month. However, the salary issue is only one part of what the official described as a larger pattern of federal discrimination. Since 2014, the KRG has been barred from hiring new public employees, while Baghdad added more than a million to the federal payroll in a single year. Despite multiple agreements to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan Region, Baghdad has continued to obstruct shipments, while allowing illegal oil flows to proceed elsewhere in the country. The Region's border crossings and internal revenues have also been targeted, with trade movements restricted and local economies undermined. Kurdistan-produced goods, both agricultural and industrial, are being blocked from export, and subject to customs tariffs the KRG deems illegal. The official added that the Region is being denied access to medical supplies and equipment, even though more than 40% of patients in its hospitals come from outside Kurdistan. Furthermore, Baghdad has reportedly excluded the Region from international loans and humanitarian assistance. Even visits by UN agencies and NGOs have been restricted. Salaries and support for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces—recognized as part of Iraq's national defense—have been cut. Aid for refugees and displaced persons within Kurdistan has also been blocked, as has access to assistance from global organizations. The official also noted discrimination in agricultural support policies, pointing to Baghdad's restrictions on wheat purchases from Kurdish farmers, even as it subsidizes growers elsewhere and imports wheat from abroad at significant cost. He concluded by calling for a 'brave national stance' to correct what he described as a dangerous imbalance. 'All Iraqis must respect the constitution and recognize the Kurdistan Region's rights as a federal entity,' he said. 'Kurdistanis must not be treated as second-class citizens. Weakening the Region does not strengthen Iraq—it weakens the entire country.'
Rudaw Net
6 hours ago
- Rudaw Net
President Barzani worked for years to facilitate Ankara-PKK peace process: Spox
Also in Kurdistan Explosive-laden drone intercepted near Erbil airport Duhok forest catches fire Explosive-laden drone crashes in Sulaimani province President Barzani, UNAMI chief discuss regional developments A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani has worked since 2022 to pave the way for the ongoing peace talks between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), using diplomatic relations with the international community, his spokesperson told Rudaw on Thursday. 'What we see now has been ongoing for years. I can say that since 2022 and 2023, the President of the Kurdistan Region has been directly in contact through all doors and paths possible to him, sometimes not only with the two main parties in the conflict but through his diplomatic relations with the world and the international community to help them facilitate and pave the way for ending armed conflict in the region,' Dilshad Shahab, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region Presidency, said. The role of President Barzani and other Kurdish officials in the nascent peace process is clear, with meetings between the Region's top officials, Turkish authorities, and mediators serving as testimony to this. The PKK announced its dissolution and an end to its four-decade armed struggle in May, in response to a February call by its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan to end the conflict - which has claimed around 40,000 lives - and pursue a political and democratic path. While Turkey has welcomed the PKK's move, it has emphasized the need for the decision to materialize on the ground. Meanwhile, the PKK expects democratic reforms from Ankara as part of the process. Rudaw was first to report on Monday that the first group of PKK fighters is set to disarm in the Kurdistan Region this month. The disarmament process is expected to begin in the Kurdistan Region in the coming days, as the first practical step in implementing the PKK's decision to lay down arms and end its armed struggle against Turkey. Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met with the Kurdistan Region's top officials, including President Barzani, in Erbil on Tuesday to discuss the peace process, according to Turkish state media. Shahab said Kalin's meeting with President Barzani 'mainly focused on the role of the [Kurdistan] Region in the peace process.' They also discussed 'all possibilities for the future of this process and the role the Kurdistan Region will play.' He added, 'Steps are heading toward a very good direction. There is great hope that practical steps… will be taken by the PKK. The Turkish state has a plan or program for its parliament to begin practical work.' Shahab also said that the process, which Turkey calls 'terror-free Turkey' has 'created great hope and we look to the future of this process with hope. It's worth an important note and we should pause on it that this is ultimately an internal matter of Turkey, but it's worth pausing for us and it's pleasing that both sides, especially the Turkish state, when an internal problem of a country that has long roots and causes many victims and bloodshed and creates much loss of life and material damage and create.' Saadi Ahmed Pira, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's (PUK) politburo, told Rudaw on Thursday that any peace agreements between Ankara and PKK will end the bombardment of Kurdistan Region and politically help Kurdish politicians in Turkey. A short-lived peace process between Turkey and the PKK in 2013 granted Kurds some rights that were previously seen as taboo, such as elective Kurdish courses at schools. Kurds have been culturally, politically, and economically repressed in Turkey for decades. Shahab said President Barzani played a key role in talks that led to the process at the time. 'Before 2010, when in the heat of tensions and complexities, violence, war, and the use of weapons, even then Mr. Nechirvan Barzani was in his efforts with both sides, directly and indirectly with PKK leaders and directly without hesitation with the Turkish state presidency through all channels possible to him, to pave the way for peace and take steps to end all this destruction, heartbreak, human sacrifice, and devastation created by war, the damages that have befallen the region,' the spokesperson said. Tuncer Bakirhan, co-chair of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), last month expressed his appreciation for President Barzani's "contributions to the peace process" between Ankara and the PKK. "He emphasized the importance of the President's continued role and support, now and in the future, as he had done in earlier stages, to help ensure the success of the process,' according to a statement from Barzani's office. The DEM Party, which mediates the talks between Ankara and the PKK, has sent delegations to President Barzani to discuss the process with him. President Barzani has repeatedly endorsed his support for the initiative. Bakhtiyar Qadir contributed to this article.
Rudaw Net
7 hours ago
- Rudaw Net
KRG calls for resumption of oil exports, salary payments
Also in Kurdistan Explosive-laden drone intercepted near Erbil airport Duhok forest catches fire Explosive-laden drone crashes in Sulaimani province President Barzani, UNAMI chief discuss regional developments A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region's Council of Ministers met on Wednesday to reiterate Erbil's 'full readiness' to cooperate with Baghdad for resuming the long-stalled Kurdish oil exports and 'to cut all of Baghdad's excuses and pretexts' for not sending the Region's salaries. 'The Kurdistan Region has implemented and exceeded any commitment imposed upon it, showing all flexibility for resuming oil exports, therefore, we expect Baghdad to end its policy of not sending salaries,' the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said in a statement. Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been suspended since March 2023, following a ruling by a Paris arbitration court that found Turkey had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to export oil without Baghdad's approval. In February, Iraq's parliament amended the federal budget law to include a $16-per-barrel fee to cover production and transportation costs for international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Kurdistan Region. The amendment also requires Baghdad and Erbil to jointly appoint an international consultancy to audit and assess these costs. If no consensus is reached, the Iraqi cabinet will choose the firm. 'The Kurdistan Region and oil companies have shown full readiness to cooperate with the federal government for resuming oil exports, all in order to cut all of Baghdad's excuses and pretexts for withholding salaries to Kurdistan's employees,' the statement said. The Council of Ministers also stressed that Erbil is ready to resume oil exports through Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) 'and to return the Kurdistan Region's oil sales revenue to the federal finance ministry.' Tensions between Erbil and Baghdad intensified in late May when the federal finance ministry suspended all budget transfers to the KRG, including the salaries of more than 1.2 million public employees. The ministry cited the KRG's alleged overspending beyond its 12.67 percent share of the 2025 federal budget. Kurdish political parties have strongly condemned the suspension, describing it as unconstitutional and politically driven. 'Baghdad must end its policy of not sending salaries to the people of Kurdistan, as salaries are a normal, legal, and constitutional right of the Region's employees, and according to all laws and regulations, they should not be deprived of this right under any pretext,' the KRG stated. Washington is also pushing for the resumption of oil exports. On Tuesday, a State Department spokesperson told Rudaw that restarting the exports 'is critical,' adding, 'This is unacceptable. We have repeatedly urged all parties to resolve their issues and will not accept an indefinite delay.'
