Ahmed al-Hilali, senior Syrian official serving as spokesperson for the integration of the U.S.-backed terrorist group YPG, says the self-styled autonomy of the group will soon come to an end, as he confirmed progress in a deal with the YPG.
Speaking to Syrian TV earlier this week, al-Hilali said they had no intention to keep the YPG’s structures, from the autonomous administration to cantons and Asayish (security) forces, in place and that those would be dissolved. He noted that YPG leader Ferhat Abdi Şahin is scheduled to announce the full dissolution soon.
The post-Baathist administration in Damascus moved against the YPG when the latter reneged on an earlier deal for integration into the Syrian army. On Jan. 16, the Syrian army launched an offensive against YPG-controlled areas in northeastern Syria. After days of the offensive, the YPG consented to sign a new deal with Damascus on integrating both "administrative" and “military” structures of the YPG to post-Assad Syria. The terrorist group agreed that Syrian security forces would be deployed in Hassakeh and Qamishli, two key areas occupied by the YPG.
The deal also stipulated a faster integration of armed members of the YPG into Syrian security forces and the creation of a division consisting of three brigades of the YPG.
Al-Hilali said the process has been initially slow but the pace has been so far good for the government, though he acknowledged that it may take more months.
This week, the process will move forward with the issue of people detained by the YPG during the December 2024 revolution that toppled the Assad regime. The YPG is required to release all who joined the revolution and must ensure the return of the people displaced due to the conflict. Al-Hilali said YPG-run prisons will be handed over to the government control.
He added that another step will be ending the checkpoints of Asayish of the YPG and control of all checkpoints will be retained by the Syrian security forces. Asayish is also banned from conducting arrests, further dissolving its role as “security force” of the YPG.
The YPG, the Syrian wing of the terrorist group PKK, neither complied with Türkiye’s terror-free initiative for disarmament of the PKK, nor with a March 2025 deal for integration with the Syrian security forces. Türkiye is a major supporter of post-Assad Syria and views the YPG as a threat to its own national security. Ankara has hinted that it may resort to a military option in Syria as it did in the past to thwart the YPG's ambitions, but repeatedly called for dialogue to resolve the dispute between the YPG and Damascus.
