عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Kurds Make ‘Secret Offer’ to Damascus

Members of the People's Protection Units (YPG) gather in the town of Shadadi. AFP file photo
Members of the People's Protection Units (YPG) gather in the town of Shadadi. AFP file photo
TT
TT

Kurds Make ‘Secret Offer’ to Damascus

Members of the People's Protection Units (YPG) gather in the town of Shadadi. AFP file photo
Members of the People's Protection Units (YPG) gather in the town of Shadadi. AFP file photo

The top commander of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), Sipan Hemo, has recently visited Damascus and Moscow to make a “secret offer” on the group’s approval to hand over the border area with Turkey to the “Syrian State” in exchange for forming a local administration under Russian guarantees, informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday.

The sources said the YPG is aiming to strike a deal on “filling the gap” following the US decision to withdraw from Syria, and to also cut off any Turkish interference in the north and northeast of Syria.

Days after US President Donald Trump’s decision more than two weeks ago to pull US forces out of Syria, Hemo traveled to the Russian military base in Hmeimim, then held a secret meeting in Damascus with Syrian intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk and Defense Minister Gen Ali Abdullah Ayoub, in the presence of a Russian military delegation, the sources told the newspaper.

Also, on Dec. 29, while a high-ranking Turkish delegation, led by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited Moscow, Hemo met with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov in the Russian capital.

The YPG stressed in its message to Damascus the need to avoid repeating the mistake committed in Syria’s Afrin.

The Kurds had lost control of the northwest canton of Afrin after an assault by the Turkish military and its proxy fighters.

The Kurdish group expressed willingness to hand over the border area of east Syria to Bashar Assad’s forces and allow the “Syrian State” to have sovereignty there.

The YPG’s offer came as the US administration worked on speeding up arrangements for the withdrawal of its troops from Syria.

Washington is arranging for the visit of White House National Security Adviser John Bolton to the east Euphrates area following talks expected in Ankara next Monday, and before his scheduled trip to Tel Aviv.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

As Syrian Opposition Sweep into Aleppo, Army Closes Airport and Roads

A destroyed Syrian army tank in the village of Anjara on the outskirts of Aleppo, Nov. 29. (AP)
A destroyed Syrian army tank in the village of Anjara on the outskirts of Aleppo, Nov. 29. (AP)
TT
TT

As Syrian Opposition Sweep into Aleppo, Army Closes Airport and Roads

A destroyed Syrian army tank in the village of Anjara on the outskirts of Aleppo, Nov. 29. (AP)
A destroyed Syrian army tank in the village of Anjara on the outskirts of Aleppo, Nov. 29. (AP)

Syrian authorities closed Aleppo airport as well as all roads leading into the city on Saturday, three military sources told Reuters, as the groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad said they had reached the heart of Aleppo.
The opposition fighters, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, carried out a surprise sweep through government-held towns this week and reached Aleppo nearly a decade after having been forced out by Assad and his allies.
Russia, one of Assad's key allies, has promised Damascus extra military aid to thwart the opposition, two military sources said, adding new hardware would start arriving in the next 72 hours.
The Syrian army has been told to follow "safe withdrawal" orders from the main areas of the city that the opposition have entered, three army sources said.
The fighters began their incursion on Wednesday and by late Friday an operations room representing the offensive said they were sweeping through various neighbourhoods of Aleppo.
They are returning to the city for the first time since 2016, when Assad and his allies Russia, Iran, and regional Shi'ite militias retook it, with the insurgents agreeing to withdraw after months of bombardment and siege.
Mustafa Abdul Jaber, a commander in the Jaish al-Izza opposition brigade, said their speedy advance this week had been helped by a lack of Iran-backed manpower in the broader Aleppo province. Iran's allies in the region have suffered a series of blows at the hands of Israel as the Gaza war has expanded through the Middle East.
The opposition fighters have said the campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians by the Russian and Syrian air force on areas in opposition-held Idlib, and to preempt any attacks by the Syrian army.
Opposition sources in touch with Turkish intelligence said Turkiye, which supports the opposition, had given a green light to the offensive.
But Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said on Friday that Turkiye sought to avoid greater instability in the region and had warned recent attacks undermined de-escalation agreements.
The attack is the biggest since March 2020, when Russia and Turkiye agreed to a deal to de-escalate the conflict.
CIVILIANS KILLED IN FIGHTING
On Friday, Syrian state television denied opposition had reached the city and said Russia was providing Syria's military with air support.
The Syrian military said it was fighting back against the attack and had inflicted heavy losses on the insurgents in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib.
David Carden, UN Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, said: "We're deeply alarmed by the situation unfolding in northwest Syria."
"Relentless attacks over the past three days have claimed the lives of at least 27 civilians, including children as young as 8 years old."
Syrian state news agency SANA said four civilians including two students were killed on Friday in Aleppo by insurgent shelling of university student dormitories. It was not clear if they were among the 27 dead reported by the UN official.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow regarded the attack as a violation of Syria's sovereignty.
"We are in favor of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the area and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible," he said.