At a time when you are in “Syrian Democratic Forces(SDF) advanced negotiations with the president’s government Ahmed Al -Shara in DamascusThe Arab voice is clearly absent from the discussion table, although the Arabs constitute the population of the “Qasd” control areas, and more than 70% of its military elements, according to local and international estimates.
This absence was not an emergency, but rather an extension of a state of systematic political and administrative marginalization that overwhelmed the relationship of “SDF” with the Arab component since its foundation with the support of the United States in 2013, according to Arab personalities.
The great numerical presence of the Arabs was not translated into a real partnership in decision -making centers or in the formulation of policies, neither within the leadership structures of “SDF”, nor within its civil institutions.
And with the rise of the Kurdish voice after the fall of the regime and its demand by a federal or expanded budget on the one hand, and the entry of SDF – with its military and political shadow – a new stage of negotiation with the Syrian state on the other hand, an urgent question arises: What is the reason for the absence of Arabs in the upcoming negotiations and arrangements? Do the developments open the door to a change in the reality of continuous marginalization for years?
Where did the negotiations between Damascus and SDF arrived?
About 3 months after the signing of the March 10 agreement between the Syrian President Ahmed Al -Shara And the leader of “SDF” Mazloum AbdiThe negotiations between the two parties entered a new stage characterized by political calm and limited attempts on the ground to implement the contents of the agreement.
In an official meeting held in Damascus in early June, the head of the competent committee confirmed the implementation of the agreement, Brigadier Ziad Al -Ayesh – in press statements – to reach preliminary understandings on education files, the return of the displaced, and the activation of local agreements in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo, pointing to the commitment of the two parties to the constructive dialogue.
However, this optimistic atmosphere does not reflect – according to the Kurdish researcher Ali Tami, who is familiar with the negotiations between the two parties – the truth of what is going on behind the scenes, and believes that “SDF exercises a policy of tension and attraction, and invests time in rearranging its papers in the field,” noting that hundreds of Kandil’s cadres arrive (PKK) To Hasaka, in addition to security elements from the previous regime, which he considered “a possible preparation for a future clash.”
In his speech to Al -Jazeera Net, the researcher doubts the possibility of implementing the essential items of the agreement, such as the delivery of the Tishreen Dam or the release of the prisoners, and considers that “SDF uses the language of understanding to gain time only, pending the expiration of the transitional phase, as it will seek to find gaps to overturn the understandings.”
And while she insists Damascus On the “unity of institutions” and warns of any federal formula, Abdi adheres to “constitutional guarantees” before implementing the full integration, which makes the current agreement a fragile framework for managing the dispute, more than it is the basis for a permanent solution.
Abdi stressed – in a press interview in late May – that the full political transformation needs constitutional guarantees that preserve the rights of components, especially the Kurds, noting that “SDF” is ready to engage in the political process whenever stability is achieved and the agreements are fixed.
The Arab voice between absence and absence
In the midst of political and military transformations in Syria in general, and in the northeastern Syria regions in particular, the Arab majority in these regions seem to be absent from the scene, although they constitute the demographic and combat majority of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
While the Kurds are negotiating the name of “SDF”, and they confirm their adherence to “constitutional guarantees” and “decentralization”, there is no similar voice or opposition to the direction of Qasd in those areas, despite the limited Kurdish presence concentrated to the area Hasaka And its countryside, and the department of Deir Al -Zour Governorate is free of it, with a limited presence in Raqqa, which are the three governorates under the control of “Qasd”.
And on the reasons for the absence of this role, the researcher specializing in the affairs of the Syrian island region, Muhannad Al -Katta, says that there is one reason for Arab silence within the areas of Qasd control, which is “the brutality in which Qasd deals with civilians in its areas of control, especially with those who oppose its policies.”
In his interview with Al -Jazeera Net, Al -Katta believes that “the SDF militia commit crimes and violations in prisons is no less horrific than what the regime was committing in Sednaya prisons, there are assassinations, killing and torture without supervision or accountability, in addition to the presence of the spy network and the informants who were recruited by Qasd, which made it difficult to do any organized action within those areas.”
Qasd violently faced a tribal uprising in the eastern countryside of Deir Al -Zour in 2023, demanding an end to marginalization and the lifting of the security grip, which left the dead and wounded, in addition to the arrest of hundreds of the people of the region.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented – in a statement issued on May 27 – the Democratic Forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces were detained at least 47 people in my provinces Deir Al -Zour And tenderness during the period from 15 to 25 of the same month.
In the latest abuses monitored by local activists, the “Media River” network stated that 4 people were killed last May in Deir Al -Zour Governorate, east of the country, by “SDF” and unknown gunmen, as the region lives in a state of security chaos, amid almost daily assassinations.
SDF and fragmentation of the Arab majority
Despite her repeated talk about representing all components, the “SDF” forces have followed since their control over the areas of East Euphrates as an approach to dominating the Arab component and dismantling its social and political structure, in a deliberate process, according to tribal figures and human rights reports, to marginalize the population through a mixture of military repression, control of resources, and the penetration of tribal structures, which led to the absence of any real representation For Arabs.
In this context, Sheikh Mudar Hammad Al -Asaad, head of the Supreme Council of the Syrian Tribes and Tribes, says that “SDF imposed itself with military force through intimidation and intimidation, so she took advantage of the money to tempt some tribal sheikhs, and provided them with political and social support, while I neutralized others, causing a great social crack within the Arab community.”
Al -Asaad continues – in his interview with Al -Jazeera Net – that external support (from the United States, Israel and Iran) provided “SDF” a political and military cover that enabled it to seize oil, gas, agricultural and animal wealth, and the implementation of forced recruitment campaigns, which included kidnapping of minors and children’s recruitment.
Al -Asaad’s testimony intersects with what was stated in a report issued by Human Rights Watch in January 2025, and “SDF” documented the arrest of political activists and recruiting children for military purposes, despite its pledges to stop these practices.
The report also indicated the escalation of tensions in the east of Deir Al -Zour Governorate, where “SDF” carried out security raids that resulted in civilian casualties.
For his part, the researcher in the affairs of the Syrian East, Samer Al -Ahmad, confirms that “SDF exerts a systematic security restriction against influential Arab figures, from the elders of the tribes to independent activists, as many of them were arrested or threatened by a different position of Qasd’s official discourse.”
This – according to Al -Ahmad’s speech to Al -Jazeera Net – imposed a suffocating security dominance and excluding local components from managing their areas, which created an environment of fear and retreat, which pushed much to silence, immigration or withdraw from public life.
Restore the Arab role after the fall of the regime
The Syrian Al -Jazeera regions witnessed wide celebrations after the signing of the March 10 Agreement between President Ahmed Al -Shara and the leader of “SDF” Mazloum Abdi, who formed a glimmer of hope for the launch of a new stage that enhances the presence of the Arab majority in the east of the country, and that the Arabs have an audible voice and an effective role in managing their areas after years of exclusion and marginalization.
With the passage of time, the Arabs began to touch the increasing opportunities for political and social participation, despite the internal challenges and the different positions between the tribal figures benefiting from the current situation and the sectors demanding broader and more transparent representation, to become active in drawing the future of their regions within the new Syria.
The Arab movement opposing the domination of “SDF” is no longer confined to the areas of the East Euphrates, but rather extended out of it, as political gatherings and currents that represent the people of the island and the Euphrates began to be formed clearly, expressing its rejection of the policies of “SDF” and its separatist project, and declaring its explicit support for the new Syrian state, according to the researcher Muhannad Al -Katta to Al -Jazeera Net.
Among the most prominent of these formations are the gathering of the people of the island (Taj), the Dahar movement, the eighth movement of December in Deir Al -Zour, the gathering of the sons of Raqqa, the gathering of the people of Deir Al -Zour (Talaar), the East, in addition to a number of meetings and events that demand the end of the aspects of uniqueness and marginalization, and the establishment of the state’s authority over the entire Syrian geography.
In turn, Hashem Al -Tahari, a spokesman for the Cooperation and Coordination Council on the Syrian island, confirms that the total political blocs and currents represented by the Arabs in the East Euphrates, especially those outside the areas of “SDF” control, looks positively to the new stage that Syria is going through, where the conviction prevails that the country is under the leadership of a country that seeks to solve the East Euphrates file through peaceful roads, in order to preserve the Syrian blood and the unity of the country.
Al -Tahari indicates – in his interview with Al -Jazeera Net – that the political and tribal forces, whether inside or outside the eastern governorates, along with a number of military factions, in the case of permanent preparation for all scenarios, including the use of force if imposed as a last option after the exhaustion of peaceful solutions.
The regions of northeastern Syria have witnessed from the first day of the regime the fall of demonstrations calling for the entry of the Syrian government forces to those areas, but “SDF” faced the popular movement rejecting its presence with a repression that killed 5 people in Raqqa, and 11 people in Deir Al -Zour, according to local networks, as well as imposing a state of emergency and launching extensive arrest campaigns, which led to the escalation of the state of popular boiling in these areas.