The move came hours after the “Unity of Position: Together for Diversity that Strengthens Our Unity and Partnership that Builds Our Tomorrow” conference convened in northeast Syria, gathering more than 400–500 representatives from Kurdish, Arab, Syriac-Assyrian, Turkmen, Armenian, Circassian, Druze, and Alawite communities. The forum, backed by the de facto Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), called for a decentralized political system and a new democratic constitution recognizing Syria’s ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi addressed the gathering, while Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari urged in a video message that “pluralism is not a threat but a treasure that strengthens unity.” Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal, president of the Syrian Alawite Islamic High Council, advocated a “secular, pluralistic, decentralized civil state.” Minority representatives also highlighted insecurity and attacks against communities in the tumultuous post-Assad period.
In a final statement read by Hassan Farhan, head of the Tay Arab tribal council, participants demanded:
- A decentralized state with a democratic constitution and inclusive transitional governance.
- Rejection of the current constitutional declaration as insufficient.
- Recognition of the SDF as a “necessary nucleus for building a new Syrian national army,” with integration to occur as formed units rather than individual enlistments.
- Transitional justice mechanisms and impartial investigations into recent killings of minorities in Sweida, the coastal region, and Christian communities, which they termed “crimes against humanity.”
Damascus reacted sharply. A senior government source, via state media, branded the Hasaka event “not a unifying national framework” but a “fragile coalition” including “separatist figures involved in hostile acts,” alleged it violated the March 10 accord, and accused organizers of seeking to “internationalize Syrian affairs and invite foreign intervention.” The government announced it would boycott all Paris meetings, refuse to “sit at the negotiating table with any party seeking to revive the era of the former regime under any name or cover,” and urged international mediators to relocate all talks to Damascus as the only legitimate venue.
Deep Rifts
The rupture highlights persistent rifts over the March 10, 2025, agreement between President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF Commander Abdi. That deal set out a path to integrate Kurdish civil and military institutions into the Syrian state but left major questions unresolved, including:
- Military integration: the SDF insists on joining as formations; Damascus demands individual integration.
- Governance: the AANES seeks a federal or decentralized model; Damascus maintains “one state, one army, one government.”
- Constitution: Kurdish leaders reject the current constitutional declaration and want guarantees for minority rights.
Tensions have escalated in recent weeks amid localized clashes between government and SDF forces in the northeast, deadly sectarian violence in Sweida province that human rights monitors say has claimed more than 1,400 lives, and ongoing disputes over representation in any future constitutional framework.
Regional and international dynamics further complicate the picture. According to multiple reports, Turkey pressed Damascus to cancel the Paris meeting. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s visit to the Syrian capital reportedly aimed to steer talks away from Paris, favoring Amman as a “neutral” venue, and to extract Kurdish concessions on governance in Deir ez-Zor. France and the United States had agreed to host negotiations in Paris “as soon as possible,” but sessions have repeatedly slipped; a July 25 round was canceled at the last minute.
Unbridgeable Divisions
Damascus’s withdrawal is a heavy setback for efforts to bridge the divide between the central state and Kurdish-led authorities who govern roughly a quarter of Syria’s territory, including oil-rich areas, and whose forces were pivotal in the fight against ISIS with U.S. support. The Hasaka conference’s emphatic backing for decentralization and a structured role for the SDF in a future national army crystallized the core dispute over Syria’s end-state: centralized control from Damascus versus a decentralized compact with entrenched protections for minorities.
With Paris now off the table and trust eroding, the March 10 roadmap faces its most serious test yet, raising the risk of prolonged political fragmentation and renewed instability unless the parties and their backers can quickly agree on a format, venue, and a minimal agenda to restart talks.