10.03.25 – 16.03.25

Signature of an agreement SDF – Provisional Government
On Monday, March 10, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and Syrian President Ahmad al-Shar’a sign an agreement formalizing what was already discussed and confirming cooperation towards a shared security framework. It ensures Kurdish political rights and paves the way for integration of major institutions. DAANES institutions back the agreement gladly, hoping that it will put an end to the different conflicts like the clashes erupted on the coast, will safeguard rights of Kurds, and will enable the return of IDPs and refugees to Afrin and other occupied territories. In the following days, the UN and relevant international state actors, such as Gulf states, European states, and US welcomed the SDF-Syrian government agreement.
[We share the points of agreement in a following message]

Aftermatch of Coastal insurgence
After few days of coordinated insurgent attacks on the coastal region of Latakia, the stronghold of Assad loyalists, forces of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) are, more or less,in control of the situation. Several insurgents had been killed or arrested in wide security operations, as well as several fighters linked to the MoD, mostly caught in ambushes by the insurgents. Many civilians, mostly Alawite population, have been killed or forced to flee looking for shelter in the Russian military base. Security operations continue, combing the insurgent areas. Insurgent attacks, even if not in the scale that they had been, also continue. Interim president al-Shara made declaration briefly acknowledged accusations of extrajudicial killings by HTS-led forces and promised that those who “exceeded the powers of the state” will be held accountable. Shara also appointed two Alawites and several competent, professional judges to a committee to investigate the crimes committed by government troops.

Provisional Constitution of Syria
Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara signed a provisional constitution on March 13, claiming to initiate a five-year transition period. The document is based on Islamic jurisprudence, remarking that the president of Syria must be Muslim. The constitution defends the freedoms of opinion, expression, information, publication and press, also defends religious freedom. The Constitutional Committee emphasized that the document ensures a separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. However, it ensures a lot of powers to the president, who will appoint a third of the “Peoples Assembly” and select a committee that will appoint the other two thirds. The president will also select the seven members of the Supreme Constitutional Court, also have right to declare state of emergency with the approval of the National Security Council, formed by the minsters of Defense, Interior, Intelligence and Foreign affairs. This grants al-Shara a massive influence over the formation and direction of the Syrian state. The SDC and other institutions of the DAANES, including the opposition party of ENKS, made declarations rejecting this constitution and denouncing how it perpetuates the presidential model of the Assad regime, not reflecting the plurality of Syria. Druze authorities also made declarations in the same direction.

Turkey continue on the offensive
After the agreement between Mazlum Abdi and Ahmed al-Shara, there was a question of how much this implies the end of hostilities between SNA and SDF. But clearly nothing really changed on the ground. Turkey continued their attacks with planes and drones over the Eufrates region around Tishreen dam, were the civilian protests still ongoing. There have been renewed attacks with heavy weapons on differnet points of the M4 like Til Temir and Ain Issa frontlines. Turkish foreign minister made declarations declaring that will monitor closely the implementations of the agreements with SDF, calling to make no concessions for any attempt of self-administration.

Continuing repatriations from Al-Hol camp to Iraq
After Iraq halted repatriations from Iraqi citizens in al-Hol camp for a short period, and following coordinated efforts between DANNES and the Iraqi state, more than 600 Iraqi former arrested had been allowed to return to Iraq. This also comes after The provisional government announced that they are ready to take control of the ISIS prisons currently under control of SDF.

Evaluation

The recent agreement between Mazlum Abdi and Ahmed al-Shara, happening at the same time than the massacres against Alawite population, leaves a bitter taste. The agreement brings nothing new, nothing more than what was already discussed. It is the formalization on paper to reach common agreements for Syria. It takes a step to make sure that no national-scale decisions and talks are made without people of northeastern Syria. Still, it is hard to see the future of the revolution through the large scale moves of state-level diplomacy.

At the same time, we need to ask ourselves: what would we like to see? What is the alternative? What could be done in this situation? Is there any better way to proceed, something that aligns better with anarchists values and respects the will and the needs of the people of north-east Syria? Honestly, these are very difficult questions.

We need to reflect what all this means. What it means for the people here, wearied by war, with the Turkish threats of a full scale invasion still looming? What it means for the revolution, with the collapse of the Assad regime but with a new authotitarian goverment rising over the same structures of nation-state? And also what it means for us, revolutionary anarchists who committed to support and defend this revolution?

In comparison with everything around it and beyond, NE Syria is clearly the most exciting political proposal in the region. Can it survive the war, the lack of resources, the attacks from all sides, the cooptation Can it avoid collapse and annihilation? Can people defend what they fought and died for, and live their lives in dignity? Time is desperately needed to ensure positive answers to these questions. And the moves we see in past weeks do buy the revolution some time. What we are trying to do here defies th logic of capitalist modernity, and this is not an easy thing to do. And as every revolution, whatever happens will bring lessons for the next ones to come.

Revolutionary greetings!

# Points of agreement signed by SDF and the provisional government:

Political Participation – Full representation and rights for all Syrian communities, including Kurds, in state institutions based on merit rather than sectarian or ethnic background.
Kurdish Rights – Recognition of the Kurdish community as an integral part of Syria, ensuring constitutional rights and citizenship protections.
Security and Stability – A ceasefire across Syrian territories, aiming to reduce hostilities and facilitate political dialogue.
Institutional Integration – The merging of all civil and military institutions in northeast Syria into the national framework, including border crossings, airports, and energy resources.
Refugee Return – Guarantees for the safe return of displaced Syrians to their homes under government protection.
Sovereignty Protection – Joint efforts to counter external threats, including armed groups and foreign interventions that destabilize Syria.
Combating Extremism – Enhanced cooperation in counterterrorism efforts against ISIS and other extremist factions.
Ending Division and Sectarian Rhetoric – Rejecting hate speech and ensuring national reconciliation.

24.02.25 – 09.03.25

Uprisings in coastal areas
In the last days, a new wave of insurgent attacks against the military forces of HTS spread around Latakia, near the strongholds of the ousted Assad regime. The situation spiraled out of control, with protests and massacres taking place. The new Syrian army is undertaking the biggest security operation of their short history, with newly created units deployed to secure the area. Insurgent cells set up ambushes and small attacks on several checkpoints, and Alawites are organizing protests to denounce the brutalities they suffer. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting over a 1000 killed in the ongoing clashes. Some Islamist groups linked to the SNA, not yet integrated in the new Syrian Army, are also deploying in the region. Videos of massacres against Alawite population are spreading in social media while many actors, from the DAANES to the UN, call for an end of hostilities. The transitional government forces are now in control of the main populated regions of Latakia, but in rural areas insurgency attacks and security operations continue. Senior officers of the ousted regime are being captured, others are leading insurgent groups and calling for negotiations with the government. The group called “Syrian popular resistance” claimed some of the attacks against government forces, but even if several attacks are coordinated at the same time it seems unlikely that there is any unified insurgent organization. Transitional government forces also deployed alongside Lebanon border to prevent Hezbollah to support the insurgency, despite Hezbollah stating they have nothing to do with it. A brutal response from security forces, targeting not just the insurgent groups but the Alawite population in general, will probably spark more resentment fueling further escalation.

No government transition after the “National dialog conference”
On February 24th a 2-day conference was held in the presidential palace of Damascus, with more than 500 people invited to attend. Nevertheless, the invitations were sent less than 48 before the event, making any meaningful participation quite difficult. The invited delegates were mostly figures close to HTS and there was an absence of representation from women, minorities and other political forces. At the end of the conference a final statement was shared, echoing the already announced goals of the transitional government. The conference became a process to legitimize a constitutional committee that will write a provisional constitution for Syria that will need to be approved by the provisional president of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa. An interim legislative council will assume temporary legislative duties until elections will be held for a permanent legislature. Al-Sharaa implied that the interim government would be responsible to appoint the members of these two bodies.

Alternative national dialog conference in Raqqa
Political entities of Northeast Syria not invited to the “National dialog conference”, organized an alternative conference in Raqqa. More than 300 representatives of ethnic minorities and political forces not invited to the conference in Damascus joined this alternative conference, calling for a decentralized and democratic Syria. The conference’s final statement calls to apply the system of democratic autonomy of northeastern Syria as a model to build a pluralistic and democratic country.

Statement of Ocalan
At the end of February the delegation that visited Abdullah Ocalan shared a statement calling for a peace process in Turkey. The statement called the PKK to lay down weapons and organize a congress to dissolve the Party. The next day PKK central committee shared a statement welcoming the call of Ocalan and declaring a unilateral ceasefire, urging the Turkish state to initiate a process of democratization needed for peace negotiations to happen. They also called for the liberation of Ocalan, pointing out that only he can lead a congress where PKK can take such important decisions as laying down weapons and dissolving itself, putting the ball in Turkey’s court. The AKP government announced that it will not negotiate with PKK.

Reaction of SDF and PYD to Ocalan’s announcement
Mazlum Abdi welcomed the message of Abdullah Ocalan and stated that the call for PKK to disarm doesn’t apply to SDF, and that it will continue its work to defend the people of northeastern Syria against the military threats of Turkish forces. The spokesperson of PYD announced that “if the reasons for carrying weapons disappear, we will lay them down,” implying that the SDF will not disarm until Turkey and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) cease attacks on the SDF in northeastern Syria.

Southern Syria and the Druze question
The situation in southern Syria was going on a path to normalization with the transitional government forces. “Men of dignity”, the main Druze armed faction, together with other smaller groups, reached an agreement to establish Suwaydawi-led security forces under interim Syrian government control in Suwayda Province. The Druze militias and interim government agreed that local leaders and residents from Suwayda would comprise the province’s security units, although it is unclear if Suwaydawis will have a majority presence in the units or if the units will only be comprised of Suwaydawis. With this agreement HTS forces were allowed to deploy in the region that before they were not allowed to access. This came with the ongoing escalation of Israel aggression in the region, that has been using the protection of the Druze community as an excuse to legitimize their deployment and extension of the “security zone”, building new military bases beyond their already occupied areas. IDF also conducted new ground operations to destroy military targets in further regions of southern Syria.

Evaluation

First of all, we want to share a self-criticism for not sharing our weekly update last week. We included some relevant events from past week in the present update. A combination of technical difficulties, shortcomings in coordination and other relevant works prevented us from curating a coherent update to share last week. We consider this task an important work to do. We value the trust you give us by following our channels, and we want to keep up with the commitments we agreed. Nevertheless, we are not professional journalists or analysts, and have limited capacities and resources. We are revolutionary anarchist militants keeping up with the duties we committed to: support, defend and expand the revolutionary developments achieved in northeastern Syria.

About the situation on the ground, as the recent escalation in Latakia region unfolds, the military forces of the transitional government are reacting as everyone expected them to do. The Salafist elements of HTS together with other Islamist militias of SNA are massacring Alawite people and inciting ethnic hate and revenge. Al-Sharaa’s measured declarations to simulate control of the situation are just a performance. Nevertheless, his recent statements about conspiracies and plans to sow discord and instability in Syria, may have some foundations besides just diverting public attention. Russian elements have been negotiating with the transitional government, but they probably kept connections with what remains of the military of the ousted regime. The scale and coordination of the attacks may suggest some external support for the insurgents. The fast reaction of Russian army providing aid and humanitarian support to displaced Alawites is an indicator that they have clear interest to keep presence in the region, working to gain support from the local population. How much are they offering a solution to the problem they themselves created is a matter of speculation for now.

In any case, this escalation of tensions can lead to clashes even in other regions. Different forces in opposition the new government might find an opportunity to challenge their rule, pushing back to gain better positions in these moments of chaos. Also other Islamist groups may use this situation to incite hate and push for further escalation to advance their agendas. As we write these lines, we are following reports on attacks being repelled by security forces in Sheikh Maqsoud, the Kurdish neighborhood in the city of Aleppo.

In the geopolitical board, the “power vacuum” of Syria is clearly unleashing waves that will influence the region for decades to come. Turkey in the north and Israel in the south are trying to use this situation to expand their influence, entering in a race for hegemony in Middle east that is now being played in Syria. This creates and interesting contradiction for US, since Turkey being a NATO member will oblige them to defend Turkish forces in case of conflict with Israel. But we all know that in such a conflict US will align with Israel and not with Turkey, questioning the value of the whole NATO alliance. Such a situation still far away from taking place, but it is probably what Russia would like to see, and their presence in Syria is not over yet. How all those things will play out, especially now with a narcissitic clown in the White house, is still unknown.

But going back to the ground level, while those terrible massacres are happening on the Syrian coast and another escalation of Syrian civil war is looming over us, the celebrations of 8 of March brought the women of northeastern Syria out to the streets from Heseke to Raqqa, From Qamishlo to Deir Ezzor. Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) held a military ceremony and reaffirmed its resolve to build democratic Syria with the commitment to the principle of “Woman, Life, Freedom”. Women, the leading force behind revolution of northeastern Syria, are and will be in the forefront of unfolding events in Syria and elsewhere – including the resistance of Tishreen dam which, as we speak, holds strong and doesn’t let Turkish army and their proxies pass to the other shore of the Euphrates.

Revolutionary greetings!

Ongoing clashes in Euphrates region
Heavy clashes continue to take place in the western shore of the Eufrates river around Tishreen Dam and Qereqozah bridge. Turkish planes and drones had been targeting SDF positions together with continues attacks of heavy weapons, as new waves of Turkish proxies launched offensives against SDF positions. The civilian vigil that started on January 8th continues, with new convoys arriving every few days. HTS forces recently deployed forces in Jarablus, near the Euphrates river and next to the Turkish border, in convoys that arrived from Turkish territory into the border city.

Preparations for the “national dialog conference”
The HTS aligned preparatory committee for the “national dialog conference” have been holding meetings in Damascus with delegates from different provinces of Syria. Anti-Kurdish statements had been made by the president of the committee, that made clear that neither SDF nor PYD will be invited to the “national dialog conference”. The participation to those meetings has been therefore controlled by that committee, that made public statements after the meetings concerning the provinces of Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir Ezzor calling for the dissolution of SDF. A video was shared on social media allegedly showing an SDF/DAANES delegate being expelled from one of these sessions. ENKS, political rival of PYD and in opposition to SDF, also criticized the decisions of holding those meetings outside SDF controlled territories and with very limited scope of participation.

Efforts to return Iraqi nationals from al-Hol camp
A new group of Iraqis sheltered in Hol Camp, hosting families captured in the campaign against the caliphate of ISIS, returned to their country. This process is part of the joint work by the Autonomous Administration and the Iraqi Parliament’s Committee on Migration, Displacement and Community Reconciliation. The new group, which is the fifth to leave the camp since the beginning of 2025, consists of 618 people (167 families). The Iraqi administration will reportedly resettle these migrants, who have returned voluntarily, to Jeda Camp in Nineveh. Since 2022, 22 Iraqi groups have left Hol Camp and returned to their country.

On economy and HTS unfulfilled promises
At a time when Syria’s economy is struggling with inflation, currency devaluation, and rising unemployment, a recent report issued by the Syrian Central Bank on the country’s general inflation rate of 2024 is questioned by several economist, dismissing the Central Bank’s numbers as inaccurate and unreliable.
The head of the Chamber of Industry in Damascus also criticized the Syrian provisional government for their unfulfilled promises to support the industrial sector and incentivize economy. After the fall of the Assad regime, 100,000 Syrians returned from the bordering countries. In a context where it is already hard to maintain the jobs of industrial workers, the lack of measures to answer the need of the newcomers will deepen the humanitarian and economical crisis already ongoing in Syria. On the other side, the announcement of the EU to lift the sanctions on energy, transport and banking on Monday 24th of February can bring important economical changes.

Trade unions against Syrian government’s decisions
The Syrian provisional government fired 400,000 workers connected to services and administration of the Syrian State. This was presented as part of a “government restructuring plan”, at a time when Syria’s economy is struggling with inflation, currency devaluation, and rising unemployment. Damascus workers’ unions organized demonstrations to protest the decision, calling for a suspension of the dismissals and the creation of independent review committees to reassess the process.

Tribal clashes growing in Deir Ezzor
Inhabitants of Deir ez zor are witnessing a surge in deadly clan clashes, increasing local insecurity and heightening residents’ fears, that already left nearly 20 dead and more than 100 injured by gunshots. Most of the victims are civilians uninvolved in the clashes. Community development initiatives promoting dialogue and reconciliation among tribes are unsuccessful, partly due to the fear of repression and increase of violence. Some civilians of the region recently called for “support from local and international organizations to motivate residents to work together”.

HTS and the of Southern Operation Room
Banyan Hariri, commander of the Southern Operations Room and member of HTS since 2018, has been promoted to colonel and assigned as commander of the military forces in the region of Hawran. His forces from the Southern Operations Room are being merged an integrated under the Defense Ministry together with soldiers of the SAA who fought on the ranks the dissolved Assad regime. The region of Hawran include Daraa and Suweyda, neighboring with the occupied Golan heights and the newly expanded “security zone” of Israel. This process is also happening together with increased security operations of the provisional government against old regime loyalists and drug dealers.

New military council in Suweyda
In Suweyda, the police command has been reactivated in coordination with the provisional government, and a similar process to resettle soldiers of the SAA started. After meeting with delegates from the provisional government, Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri declared that men from Suweyda joining the army will serve in their regions, and that those who don’t want to join military service will continue their civilian lives. Allegedly, on February 22nd, a statement of a new military council of Suweyda was shared on social media, rejecting the integration of their forces in the ministry of defense of the HTS provisional government. We are not sure yet what this implies.

Israel not-anymore-temporal security zone
Israel defense minister declared that two military posts on mount Hermon and 7 more in the newly occupied “extended buffer zone” will be permanent. Netanyahu called for a demilitarization of the southern Syria and Israel intentions to not allow military forces of HTS provisional government deploy on the areas south of Damascus. Netanyahu expressed concerns about the safety of the Druze community, stating that they won’t tolerate threats against them.

 # Analysis

Shortly before March 1st, the date that was marked for the dissolution of the provisional government and the creation of a new one, the dates for the awaited “national dialog conference” had been fixed for February 25th. The preparation committee for the conference is mainly composed of HTS members loyal to al-Sharaa, including two women to make-up the obvious bias of such a committee, one of them from Turkey. All members are then Sunni Muslim, without any efforts to represent other ethnic and religious minorities in Syria such as Kurds, Druze, Christians or Shia muslims. As we mentioned before, such a conference will probably end up being a staged performance where to announce the dissolution of HTS, transferring their institutions and man-power into the a new centralized Syrian government. Such moves aims to legitimize their power grab as well as getting rid of the “terrorist” label that still hangs on them, tracing them back to their origins as a branch of al-Qaeda.

To make such a move more compelling, several senior figures of Hurras al-Din, the hardliners that stayed loyal to al-Qaeda when HTS started to act independently from it, had been target by coalition air-strikes in Idlib. This is probably the result of coordinated exchange of information between al-Sharaa provisional government and the US military apparatus. The newly proclaimed president of Syria is getting rid of his old comrades, specially of those that still to extremist to be accepted by western powers. With his help, intelligence operatives are getting their coordinates to American drones that do what they had been trained to do for decades: find, fix, finish. Don’t get us wrong here, we don’t complain about those theocratic fascists being blown up into pieces. We just point out how this is part of the power games of another theocratic fascist climbing up his way to presidency of the government.

In a recent article of Robin Yassim-Kassab, coauthor of the book “burning country” with Leila al-Shami, he wrote that Syria needs a strong society, not a strongman. Decades of megalomaniac dictatorship in Syria, with big statues and massive picture of Assad everywhere (first the father and later the son), contributed to promote a mentality where centralized hierarchy, represented by one strong-man, is seen as the only possible expression of national unity. The brutal years of war have been an extreme example of where this leads, with the regime loyalists putting in practice their slogan “Assad or we burn the country”. They did burn the country, but this did not stop the regime from collapsing.

On the other side of the Eufrates river, the 3 main institutions of the northeast Syria (SDF, SDC and the DAANES) announced an agreement to accept some of the conditions proposed by the provisional government in Damascus. The details of that meeting have not been shared on official channels, but it shows the disposition of joining the transitional process ongoing in Syria. This came as Turkish threats of a full invasion still hanging over the regions of the autonomous administration. As far as we know, this there is not yet any formal agreement with the provisional government of Syria. Such agreement is therefore a display of the will to prioritize negotiations and to avoid a continuation of the bloodshed.

March will therefore be a very intense month, The awaited “historical the message” of Abdullah Ocalan, promised by the delegation that visited him in Imrali prison, will probably be announced soon. 8 of March, working women’s day, is also a very important date for the women’s movement leading the revolutionary process. Newroz, the Kurdish new year celebrations, also take place at the end of March. For as, Anarchists in NES, it is also a very special month since is the month that 3 of our anarchist comrades fell şehid in defending this revolution. We honor them and we carry their memories in our hearts, continuing the struggle they gave their life for.

Revolutionary greetings!