Ferhat Abdi Şahin, the ringleader of the U.S.-backed terrorist group YPG, was in Damascus on Sunday for fresh talks with the Syrian administration on the integration of the PKK terrorist group’s Syria wing to the new Syrian army.
Syrian state media reported that no "tangible results" had been achieved in Sunday's meeting.
Şahin signed a deal in March with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to merge the YPG into the government by the end of 2025, but differences between the two sides have held up its implementation.
The YPG said in a statement that a delegation of the group, including Şahin, held talks with Syrian government officials on the integration process.
State TV said the meeting did not produce "tangible results" that would accelerate implementation of the agreement. It said the sides agreed to hold further meetings at a later date.
The terrorist group controls large swathes of Syria's oil-rich north and northeast, and enjoys the support of a U.S.-led international coalition, under the pretext of a joint fight against the terrorist group Daesh.
The question of its integration into the state has proven complicated since the ouster of the Assad regime a year ago.
Despite his agreement to merge with the new government, Şahin has repeated calls for decentralization, which Syria's new administration has rejected, and tensions between the YPG and the government have occasionally erupted into clashes.
In December, a YPG official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on condition of anonymity that Damascus had proposed splitting the YPG-led forces into three divisions and a number of brigades, including one for women. The forces would be deployed under YPG commanders in YPG-controlled areas, the official said.
Syria's foreign minister later said the government was studying the YPG's response.
That same month, Şahin said that "all efforts are being made to prevent the collapse of this process" and that he considered failure unlikely.
Türkiye, an important ally of Syria's new leaders, sees the presence of the YPG on its border as a security threat and has publicly called for them to be integrated into the state. The country, which suffered multiple YPG attacks in the past years, especially on border towns, is on the same page with Damascus for the group’s integration, and has repeatedly warned the terrorist group that it may face military action if it fails to do so.
