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The so-called Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) is expected to be dissolved within the coming week, with the PKK/YPG-dominated SDF folded into the Syrian army, Syria's deputy defense minister Sipan Hamo said.
"The role of the SDF is over," said Hamo, who now serves as Syria's deputy defense minister for the country's eastern territories.
"In the coming days, the dissolution of the 'SDF' and the Autonomous Administration will be officially announced, and they will be fully integrated into state institutions," Hamo said, adding, "There cannot be two administrations in a single state, and the Syrian government will take over the administration of the region's affairs."
Accounts on X linked to the SDF wrote that "the Head of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, has agreed to announce the dissolution of the SDF very soon."
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Abdi discussed advancing implementation of the integration agreement during a meeting in Damascus on Aug. 4, with Sharaa receiving Abdi at the People's Palace in the presence of Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Deir el-Zour Governor Ziad al-Ayyash, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
The two sides reviewed progress in implementing the Jan. 29 agreement between the Syrian government and the SDF and discussed next steps in the integration process.
No further details on the outcome of the meeting were provided.
On Jan. 29, the Syrian government announced it had reached a "comprehensive agreement" with the SDF aimed at ending division in the country and launching a new phase of integration.
The deal, covering the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli and the integration of military forces, complements a previous agreement signed Jan. 18.
Damascus and the Kurdish authorities have taken several steps since the January deal, including the entry of government forces into Hasakah and Qamishli and the transfer of management of Qamishli airport and key oil fields to the state. But differences between the sides had held up the integration of several SDF brigades into the Syrian army.
Hamo, formerly a senior figure of the terrorist organization PKK-linked YPG, was appointed deputy defense minister for Syria's eastern territories on March 10, in a move seen as part of implementing the U.S.-brokered integration agreement.
The YPG forms the core of the SDF, which controlled roughly a third of Syrian territory before government forces under Sharaa launched an offensive in January that took swaths of the areas the SDF had occupied.
The YPG forms the core of the SDF, which controlled roughly a third of Syrian territory before government forces under Sharaa launched an offensive in January that took swaths of the areas the SDF had occupied.
Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) leader, Nechirvan Barzani, met with Sharaa in Damascus on Aug. 3, in the first visit by the head of Iraq's KRG since Assad's ouster.
Official sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the talks aimed to advance the integration deal between Damascus and Syria's Kurds. Sharaa's office said he and Barzani discussed "strengthening cooperation and coordination, especially economic... in a way that contributes to supporting security and stability."
Barzani said in a statement that he affirmed his "support for a stable and united Syria, where the rights of all ethnic and religious communities are protected," and that the two discussed "the importance of Syria playing a constructive role in advancing regional peace and security."
A Syrian official source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the pair discussed the January deal and "procedures for integrating" the SDF into the state, while a Syrian diplomatic source said the visit would mainly focus on "following up on the agreement between the state and the SDF."
Barzani may also have met Abdi during the visit, the diplomatic source told AFP.
Türkiye's intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, met Shaibani in Ankara on August 6 to discuss bilateral ties, regional developments and security cooperation, according to Turkish security sources cited by state-run Anadolu Agency (AA).
The meeting focused on Türkiye-Syria relations, areas of cooperation, relations with neighboring countries, regional stability, and recent developments in Lebanon and Syria-Lebanon ties, the sources said.
Kalin and Shaibani reviewed progress in the SDF integration process and ways to strengthen counterterrorism cooperation, with both sides emphasizing that constructive steps are being taken to ensure the process is completed successfully.
The meeting also underscored that the Syrian government continues to combat the Daesh terrorist group as part of efforts to ensure stability.
The two sides further discussed the political and economic repercussions of the U.S.-Israel-Iran war on the region, as well as the latest developments regarding sanctions on Syria and investment in the country.
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