The Syrian army has deployed to the northeastern city of Hasakah, previously controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), implementing the first phase of a United States-backed ceasefire agreement.
A large convoy of military trucks entered Hasakah on Monday, hours after the SDF imposed a curfew. Syrian forces arrived as part of the newly brokered agreement between Damascus and the SDF announced last Friday.
The agreement aims to solidify the ceasefire that halted weeks of conflict during which the SDF lost substantial territory in northeastern Syria.
It establishes a framework for incorporating SDF fighters into Syria’s national army and police forces, while integrating civilian institutions controlled by the group into the central government structure.
Under the terms of the agreement, government forces will avoid entering Kurdish-majority areas. However, small Interior Ministry security units will take control of state institutions in Hasakah and Qamishli, including civil registries, passport offices and the airport.
Kurdish local police will continue security operations in both cities before eventually merging with the Interior Ministry.
The government forces’ entry into Hasakah occurred without incident and as scheduled.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – whose government has long viewed the SDF as an extension of the Kurdish-led armed rebellion in Turkiye – issued a stern warning to Kurdish forces.
“With the latest agreements, a new page has now been opened before the Syrian people,” Erdogan said in a televised address. “Whoever attempts to sabotage this, I say clearly and openly, will be crushed under it.”
Friday’s agreement includes provisions for establishing a military division incorporating three SDF brigades, plus an additional brigade for forces in the group-held town of Ain al-Arab, also known by its Kurdish name Kobane, which will operate under the state-controlled Aleppo governorate.
The arrangement also provides for the integration of governing bodies in SDF-held territories with state institutions.
According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, Interior Ministry forces began deploying in rural areas near Kobane on Monday.
Since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad 14 months ago, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s efforts to unify the fractured nation under central authority have been hampered by deadly clashes with the SDF and other groups.