Syria is at a crossroads. It recently held elections for its new parliament. The elections didn’t involve mass voting, but rather a type of electoral college in which only a small number of people cast their votes.
The vote was postponed in the southern Druze area of Sweida and also in eastern Syria, where most of Syria’s Kurds live. This means that key minority areas were excluded.
At the same time, tensions between the Syrian transitional government and Kurds in two Aleppo neighborhoods boiled over into fighting.
Syria must now try to head off another crisis. In the past, the transitional government, run by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has not been able to manage the crisis very well.
In March, for instance, many Alawites were murdered in Latakia after tensions between the minority group and Syrian armed factions grew into open conflict. The Alawites are often accused of being pro-Assad; they held the key roles in the Assad regime that ran Syria for 50 years.
In southern Syria, the Druze have also faced conflict with the central government. In July, Druze clashed with Bedouin tribes; once again, the central government in Damascus appeared to ignore the conflict until it was too late.
As a result, several people were killed. The Druze believe they are being persecuted by the government, which has led Druze officials to demand autonomy or independence.
What Syria now faces is a potential new crisis with the Kurds. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces control eastern Syria.
The SDF is primarily led by Kurds. It is a strong force and has been fighting ISIS for a decade. It has tens of thousands of trained fighters.
The SDF has clashed with elements of the new Syrian transitional government in areas near Aleppo. When factions linked to the government began to fight with Kurds in the Aleppo neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsood and Achrafieh, there were concerns that this could spill over to clashes with the SDF.
The SDF is sympathetic to the Kurds in Aleppo
This is because the SDF is sympathetic to the Kurds in Aleppo and doesn’t want to see the neighborhoods overrun by extremists linked to the central government.
THE GOVERNMENT appears to have scrambled to set things right. According to reports, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi flew by helicopter to Damascus on October 7, accompanied by US Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack and Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command.
Abdi had met with Barrack and Cooper in eastern Syria the day before, giving the transitional government a unique opportunity to meet with both Abdi and the Americans to discuss what might come next.
“Defense Minister General Murhaf Abu Qasra announced on Tuesday that he has reached a comprehensive ceasefire agreement with Mazloum Abdi, the chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), covering northern and northeastern Syria,” Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Syria’s official news agency, reported on October 7.
Abu Qasra then posted on social media: “I have recently met with Mr. Mazloum Abdi in the capital, Damascus, where we agreed on a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts and military positions in northern and northeastern Syria. The implementation of this agreement will begin immediately.”
This is important because it demonstrates that the government was able to step in and prevent violence from spilling over. It is possible it has learned from what happened in March in Latakia and in July in Sweida.
This could mean that the clashes have ended, and that things may work toward more constructive dialogue between the SDF and Damascus. Nevertheless, both Damascus and the SDF are suspicious of each other.
SANA accused the SDF of attacks. According to a recent report, for instance, the Defense Ministry “stressed that the Syrian government remains committed to the March 10 Agreement and has no plans to launch offensive actions, adding that the army’s current mission is to protect civilians and security forces from continued SDF assaults.”
The SDF accuses factions linked to Damascus of attacking Kurds in Aleppo and other places. It also says they are shelling areas of the front line where SDF units are positioned near Damascus-backed troops.