Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD) said on Monday its path remains “dialogue and negotiation with Damascus and a fair political solution,” as Kurdish-led authorities marked the International Day of Peace across northeast Syria.
The statement came amid expectations that negotiations between the Syrian government and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) could soon resume at a higher leadership level, despite escalating rhetoric from Kurdish officials insisting on decentralization and accusing Damascus of backtracking on a March 10 deal.
Crowds gathered in towns across the self-administration regions to mark the peace day, joined by representatives of political parties and civic institutions.
“Peace is not a distant dream but a right and a duty,” the PYD’s Euphrates branch said in a statement, urging international powers to support peace efforts, protect civilians and ensure the dignified return of displaced people.
But senior PYD official Saleh Muslim took a harder line, telling a Kurdish daily: “We will not accept a return to centralization in Syria. We want a just international solution to the Kurdish question. If Damascus rejects decentralization, we will demand independence.”
In separate remarks published by Türkiye’s Kurdish Green Left website, Muslim accused Damascus of “withdrawing” from the March 10 agreement under Turkish pressure. He also pointed to July’s unrest in the Druze-majority city of Sweida as evidence that minorities had lost confidence in the government’s ability to unify the country peacefully.
“A decentralized Syria with local self-rule is the best way for us to live together in peace,” he said.
Political analyst Bassam Suleiman told Asharq Al-Awsat that Muslim’s remarks reflected an ongoing negotiation process. He said a new round of talks was likely to bring together Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Shibani and top Kurdish envoy Ilham Ahmed in Damascus, with any draft deal to be submitted to President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi.
Media leaks suggested Ahmed had already arrived in Damascus for her second visit in less than two weeks, in a trip aimed at reviving talks frozen for two months. Her visit followed meetings in Amman with Abdi and a US congressional delegation, where the Kurdish leadership discussed the negotiation track before the American lawmakers travelled on to Syria to meet al-Sharaa.
Diplomatic sources in Damascus said US and French pressure was mounting on both sides to move forward.
While Ahmed’s meetings with Syrian officials have not yet yielded breakthroughs, the sources said both parties want to signal their seriousness about reaching a political settlement free of regional and international dictates.
Under the March 10 agreement, al-Sharaa and Abdi agreed on integrating the SDF into state institutions and guaranteeing equal rights for all Syrians to participate in political and public life regardless of religion or ethnicity.
