After months of difficult negotiations, including a recent uptick in hostilities, the transitional authority in Damascus and the northeast Syria-based Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached a preliminary agreement on unification talks. While far from complete and facing many challenges, both parties could hopefully be starting to understand each other—albeit amid a tenuous calm that could collapse at any moment. With international influence at play, all major stakeholders in Syria’s transition should continue actions that foster mutual respect and cooperation, helping guide the country through its difficult transition.
Early last month, Aleppo City’s Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods, long under SDF control given the neighborhoods’ Kurdish majorities, witnessed renewed fighting after months of tensions relating to different interpretations of an April deal regarding the areas. That agreement is directly connected to the national-level talks between the government of transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa, on one side, and SDF leader Mazlum Abdi and other leaders from its civilian arm, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), on the other.
Fortunately, the fighting remained relatively low-level, just as it has along the frontlines of Syria’s northeast that separate the SDF from government forces, which also saw an uptick during the violence in Aleppo City. Still, for a moment, it appeared as if this round of hostilities could rapidly expand.
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