Turkey Sends Senior Delegation to Damascus as Talks Focus on SDF Integration

Post by : Saif Nasser

Turkey is sending a high-level delegation to Damascus on Monday for important talks with Syrian officials, focusing on bilateral relations and the future of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, also known as the SDF. The visit shows how serious Ankara is about shaping security arrangements in northern Syria and protecting what it sees as its national interests.

According to a Turkish Foreign Ministry source, the delegation will include Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler, and Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey’s intelligence agency. Their main task will be to discuss how an agreement to integrate the SDF into Syria’s state institutions will be carried out.

The talks come at a sensitive time. Syrian, Kurdish, and U.S. officials have been trying to show progress on the integration deal, but Turkey says the SDF has been delaying key steps. Ankara believes the group is not fully respecting the agreement, especially as a year-end deadline approaches.

Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has fought the Turkish state for decades and is banned in Turkey. Although the SDF has been a key U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State, Ankara argues that allowing it to keep its military structure poses a serious threat to Turkish security.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said last week that Turkey still hopes to avoid military action against the SDF, but warned that patience is running out. Turkey has carried out several cross-border operations in Syria in the past and has made it clear that it is ready to act again if it believes its security is at risk.

The integration deal is especially important for Ankara because it is meant to break the SDF’s independent chain of command. Turkey says any integration must ensure that the group no longer operates as a separate armed force and that its fighters come under full Syrian state control.

Sources familiar with the discussions say Damascus has proposed reorganizing the SDF’s roughly 50,000 fighters into several divisions and smaller units within the Syrian army. In return, the SDF would need to give up parts of its command structure and allow Syrian government forces into areas it currently controls in northeastern Syria.

Turkey also links the SDF issue to its own peace and disarmament process with the PKK. Ankara insists that all armed groups tied to the PKK must disarm and dissolve, and it sees the SDF as part of this wider problem.

For Turkey, the issue is not only about borders but also about Syria’s unity. Turkish officials say that any attempt by the SDF to delay or reshape the integration deal threatens both Turkish security and Syria’s territorial integrity.

As the delegation arrives in Damascus, expectations are high but so are tensions. The outcome of these talks could shape the next phase of relations between Turkey and Syria and decide whether diplomacy or force will define the future of northern Syria.