QAMISHLI: Thousands of Syrian Kurds rallied in the northeast city of Qamishli on Sunday in a show of solidarity ahead of the implementation of a recent deal with the government.
Damascus and Kurdish forces reached a comprehensive agreement on Friday to gradually integrate the Kurds’ military and civilian institutions into the state, after under-pressure Kurds ceded territory to advancing government forces in recent weeks.
The developments have come as a blow to the Kurds, who had sought to preserve the de facto autonomy they exercised after seizing swathes of north and northeast Syria in battles against the IS group during Syria’s civil war, backed by a US-led coalition.
In Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the northeast, thousands of men, women and children filled the streets, according to a correspondent, waving Kurdish flags and holding up pictures of fighters who were killed.
Student Barine Hamza, 18, said “we have come out for Kurdish unity”.
“We are afraid of being betrayed because we do not trust this government,” she said.
The text of the deal maintains an ongoing ceasefire and introduces a “gradual integration” of the Kurdish forces and administrative institutions.
It appeared to include some of the Kurds’ demands, such as establishing brigades of fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Kurdish-majority areas. – AFP
