Ömer Çelik, spokesperson for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), lauded the Syrian administration’s success against "attempts to hinder the terror-free Türkiye and terror-free region goal by the YPG/PKK.”
The Syrian government on Sunday signed a new agreement with the YPG, the Syria wing of the terrorist group PKK, that ended weeklong clashes in the country’s north and formally merged the group into the state, President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced Sunday, after government forces advanced in YPG-held areas of the country's north and east.
According to the terms published by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the agreement provides for an immediate and comprehensive cease-fire across all fronts and contact lines between government forces and the YPG. The deal is to take effect in parallel with the withdrawal of all YPG-affiliated military formations to areas east of the Euphrates River as a preparatory step for redeployment.
Under the deal, the provinces of Deir el-Zour and Raqqa will be handed over fully and immediately to the Syrian government, both administratively and militarily. This includes the transfer of all civilian institutions and facilities in the two provinces.
The agreement stipulates that current employees in Deir el-Zour and Raqqa will be formally retained within the relevant Syrian state ministries, and that the government will not take punitive measures against YPG personnel or members of the civil administration in the two provinces. It also stipulates the integration of all civilian institutions in Hasakah province into Syrian state institutions and administrative structures. As part of the deal, the Syrian government will assume control of all border crossings and oil and gas fields in the region. These sites are to be secured by Syrian forces to ensure that revenues are returned to the state, according to SANA.
Under the deal, all YPG military and security personnel will be integrated "individually" into the structures of Syria's Defense and Interior Ministries following mandatory security vetting. Those accepted will be granted official military ranks and financial and logistical entitlements in accordance with regulations, while committing to the protection of the social and cultural particularities of Kurdish-majority areas.
The agreement stipulates that YPG leadership will not recruit remnants of the ousted Assad regime and will submit official lists identifying former regime officers present in northeast Syria. It also provides for the issuance of a presidential decree appointing a nominee to serve as a governor of Hasakah province, in a move described as a guarantee for political participation and local representation. In the northern city of Ayn al-Arab, also known as Kobani, the deal calls for the removal of the heavy military presence, the formation of a local security force composed of city residents, and the retention of a local police force administratively affiliated with the Syrian Interior Ministry.
The agreement further transfers responsibility for Daesh terrorist group detainees and camps, along with the forces guarding them, to the Syrian government, which will assume full legal and security authority over these facilities.
It also allows for the adoption of candidate lists submitted by YPG leadership for senior military, security and civilian posts within the state structure.
The agreement also welcomes Presidential Decree No. 13 of 2026, which recognizes Kurdish cultural and linguistic rights and addresses long-standing civil and legal issues affecting stateless Kurdish residents and property rights accumulated over previous decades.
On the regional security front, the YPG is committed to removing all non-Syrian members of the PKK from Syrian territory, a step framed as essential to preserving national sovereignty and regional stability. The Syrian government, for its part, is committed to continuing counterterrorism operations against the Daesh terrorist group as an active member of the international coalition, including coordination with the U.S. to safeguard regional security.
The agreement also calls for efforts to reach understandings on the safe and dignified return of residents displaced from Afrin and the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo.
The deal follows a military operation launched by the Syrian Army that resulted in the recapture of large areas in eastern and northeastern Syria, after repeated violations by the YPG of agreements signed with the government about a year ago and its failure to implement their provisions.
In a social media post on Monday, Çelik said the decree by al-Sharaa was significant to safeguard the rights of Syria’s Kurds.
Çelik said the YPG was "tasked with doing the evil deeds of certain powers and acted as a separate state and army within Syria.” "This ran counter to the realities on the ground in Syria, the principle of ‘one Syria, one army.’ Türkiye repeatedly highlighted that this was not possible. Having two states and two armies means a civil war that would harm everyone. Terrorist groups acting in this manner proved that they were merely an apparatus of evil forces. It does not benefit anyone, be they Kurds, Arabs or Turkmens, but it is clear who will benefit,” Çelik said, without elaborating.
Türkiye views the PKK and its affiliates as proxies for "imperialist forces” seeking to destabilize the wider region. Israel’s outreach to the YPG and U.S. support for the terrorist group under the pretext of a joint fight against Daesh have long irked Ankara.
Çelik said YPG sought to derail terror-free Türkiye and terror-free region goals but failed. He said both were interlinked and YPG, by not complying with the March 2025 deal with Damascus, acted as a tool of an evil project targeting Syrian Kurds and the entire Syria. Terror-free Türkiye initiative, launched by government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in 2024, aims at the disarmament of the PKK. YPG refused to join the initiative, though the PKK started a dissolution process last year. "YPG’s coup attempt targeting those goals is stopped,” he said.
'A right step'
Çelik stated that terrorist groups cannot represent any ethnic or religious group, and their occupation of Syria cannot be defined as a "gain.”
He said that the latest declaration by al-Sharaa was a clear sign of Syria’s internal integration and "a right step for our terror-free region goal.” "The true gain for our Syrian Kurdish brothers is the road map that began with the March 2025 deal, continued with the decree that safeguarded their rights and was framed with the latest (cease-fire and integration agreement).” "All steps taken to promote calm in Syria, to ensure unity and solidarity, and to eliminate terrorism are valuable. These efforts must be considered alongside the principle of taking an uncompromising stance in the fight against terrorism. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s policy of brotherhood toward neighboring countries and the peoples of the surrounding region continues with determination. We will continue to work so that the peoples of brotherly countries can have an honorable, peaceful, secure and prosperous future free from terrorism and imperialist domination. We continue to see that this strategy, built over years through patience, resolve and effort, produces the right outcomes for all, based on respect for the sovereignty of brotherly nations,” he concluded.
Commenting on the deal, Fuat Oktay, chair of the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a social media post on Monday that Türkiye supported the fight against terrorists supported by Israel and other foreign forces. Oktay said Syria was going through a critical phase.
"We hope the Cease-fire and Full Integration Agreement announced by President al-Sharaa would add momentum to efforts for lasting stability and security in Syria.
"Preserving Syria’s territorial integrity, maintaining peace and stability there, is as important for all countries in the region as much as for the people of Syria. As we did in the past, we will continue standing with Syria and the people of Syria. Our march to the goal of a terror-free region will continue resolutely, based on finding regional solutions to regional problems and independent of those outside the region,” he said.