Khaberni - The Syrian Presidency announced the appointment of Brigadier General Ziad Al-Ayesh as a presidential envoy to monitor the implementation of the January 29 agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which aimed to end the state of division in the country and establish a new phase of integration.
The Presidency's Media Directorate stated that this step "aims to overcome obstacles, strengthen the presence of state institutions, and activate government services in the northeastern regions of the country."
It emphasized that this assignment "comes to ensure the implementation of the agreement terms, including the ceasefire, the initiation of a sequential integration of military and administrative institutions, the entry of security forces into the centers of Hasakah and Qamishli cities, and the delivery of civil, governmental institutions and crossings to the state."
Diverse Positions
This comes at a time when uncertainty has returned to overshadow the implementation process of the agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, amid differing statements regarding the mechanisms of integration and the nature of the anticipated administrative formula.
SDF leadership has emphasized the necessity to grant administrative "specificity" to regions with a Kurdish majority, while maintaining the structures established by the "Autonomous Administration." This stance was confirmed during a conference of notables in Hasakah, and also following the conclusion of the Munich Security Conference, where the future of Northeastern Syria was discussed.
Conversely, the Syrian government asserts that any integration must occur under the roof of one state and one army, with a rejection of maintaining independent military formations outside the official structure, while Damascus traditionally reserves judgement on any formula that might be interpreted as establishing a parallel entity or an actual division of power.
This divergence reflects the "SDF" and "Autonomous Administration's" adherence to the concept of political and administrative decentralization as a guarantee for extended local powers, against the governmental insistence on the centrality of sovereign decision-making.
Between these two positions, the implementation of the January 29 agreement remains contingent on the ability of both parties to overcome procedural and political disagreements, and to convert declared commitments into tangible field steps.
