Syria Withdraws from Paris Talks with SDF

(MENAFN) Syria’s interim government declared on Saturday it will boycott upcoming talks in Paris with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), condemning a recent SDF-organized conference in Hasakah as “separatist” and detrimental to national integration efforts.

A local news agency cited an unnamed government official who described Friday’s Hasakah gathering—attended by Druze and Alawite religious leaders—as “a blow” to ongoing negotiations and “a clear violation” of the March 10 agreement.

The official accused the SDF of convening “separatist figures involved in hostile acts,” asserting the meeting sought to invite foreign interference and reinstate sanctions.

He added that the Hasakah conference lacked legitimacy as a national forum and was instead “a fragile alliance of parties harmed by the Syrian people's victory and the fall of the defunct regime.”

Titled “Unity of Position for the Components of Northeastern Syria,” the meeting concluded by calling for a new democratic constitution and a decentralized governance system that respects Syria’s cultural and religious diversity.

The official characterized the gathering as an attempt to sidestep cease-fire commitments and institutional integration, describing it as a façade for “systematic demographic change policies” targeting Syrian Arabs, allegedly orchestrated by “extremist Kurdish currents.”

Damascus reiterated its call for “serious engagement” in executing the March 10 accord signed by Syrian official Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi, which requires the integration of civil and military bodies in northeastern Syria under state authority.

On July 25, Syria’s foreign affairs authority confirmed an agreement with the SDF to convene consultations in Paris “as soon as possible” to finalize the implementation of the deal.

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