Syria pulls out of Paris talks with SDF over Hasakah conference

Alsharq Tribune-AFP 

Syria's interim authority said Saturday it will not attend planned talks in Paris with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), accusing the group of holding a "separatist" conference on Friday that undermined ongoing integration efforts.

The state-run SANA news agency quoted an unnamed government source as saying that Friday's Hasakah gathering, which was organized by the SDF and attended by Druze and Alawite religious figures, was "a blow" to the negotiation efforts and a "clear violation" of the March 10 agreement.

The source accused the SDF of hosting "separatist figures involved in hostile acts," saying Friday's meeting aimed to invite foreign intervention and reimpose sanctions.

The source said the Hasakah conference did not represent a national framework but "a fragile alliance of parties harmed by the Syrian people's victory and the fall of the defunct regime."

The Hasakah meeting, titled "Unity of Position for the Components of Northeastern Syria," called in its final statement on Friday for a new democratic constitution and a decentralized system that respects Syria's cultural and religious diversity.

According to the source, the meeting was an evasion of cease-fire commitments and efforts to integrate institutions, and a cover for "systematic demographic change policies" against Syrian Arabs allegedly carried out by "extremist Kurdish currents."

The source said Damascus was calling for "serious engagement" in implementing the March 10 agreement signed between Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi, which mandated the integration of all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria into state structures.

On July 25, Syria's foreign affairs authority said it had agreed with the SDF to hold consultations in Paris "as soon as possible" to complete implementation of the agreement.