Damascus Rejects Participation in Paris Talks with "SDF" Following Al-Hasakah Conference
The Syrian government announced through an official source quoted by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) today, Saturday, August 9, its refusal to participate in any scheduled meetings with the "Syrian Democratic Forces" (SDF) in Paris.
This came in rejection of the "Unified Position of the Components of Northeast Syria" conference organized by the SDF on Friday in Al-Hasakah, with the participation of religious and tribal figures including Sheikh Aql of the Druze community in Sweida, Hikmat Al-Hajri, and the head of the "Supreme Alawite Islamic Council", Ghazal Ghazal.
The source confirmed that the conference "violates an agreement between the government and the group" and represents a "breach of the ongoing entitlements", indicating that it "constituted a blow to the ongoing negotiation efforts".
The source stated literally: "Based on that, (the government) will not participate in any scheduled meetings in Paris, and will not sit at the negotiating table with any party seeking to revive the era of the fallen regime under any name or cover".
The source clarified that Damascus affirms the citizens' right to peaceful assembly and constructive dialogue "provided that it is within the framework of the comprehensive national project that revolves around the unity of Syria, land, people, and sovereignty", and that rights are exercised "within the national legal frameworks, provided that their activities are peaceful, do not carry weapons against the state, and do not impose their vision on the form of the Syrian state".
The source pointed out that the Al-Hasakah conference "does not represent a comprehensive national framework, but rather a fragile alliance" that relies on "external support", emphasizing that the shape of the state "is not determined through factional understandings, but through a permanent constitution approved by popular referendum".
He also accused "extremist Kurdish factions receiving instructions from Qandil" of implementing "systematic demographic change policies against Syrian Arabs", considering that the conference discussed topics that contradict the March 10 agreement, such as forming a "core of a new national army" and reconsidering the constitutional declaration, even though the agreement "clearly stipulated the integration of all civil and military institutions in Northeast Syria within state institutions".
The source called on the SDF to "seriously engage in implementing the March 10 agreement", and urged international mediators to "move all negotiations to Damascus as it is the legitimate and national address for dialogue among Syrians".
In a related context, "Anadolu" quoted an anonymous government source describing the SDF conference as "reflecting its lack of seriousness" and a "serious escalation", while "Syrian TV" mentioned that the government is considering canceling the Paris negotiations if no "practical proposal" is presented to implement the agreement.
The source concluded his statements by affirming that the Syrian people "will thwart these projects again today" just as they previously thwarted "partition conferences before independence".
