Syrian Kurds, with British support, seek to impose decentralization in Syria.

On March 10, 2025, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa signed an agreement with the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, stipulating the integration of these forces into the Syrian army and other state institutions, and affirming that Kurdish society is an integral component of the people and the state.

The text of the agreement suggested the Syrian government's commitment to preserving the country's unity, equal citizenship, and ensuring representation of all components of the Syrian people in government. However, the text made no reference to administrative or sovereign divisions.

The text was drafted in a general form, devoid of any details regarding the integration process of the Syrian Democratic Forces and their apparatuses. It also granted a relatively long period of time, extending until the end of this year, for the agreement's implementation. This, according to observers, created loopholes that are now negatively impacting the political and social arena, with the recent rise in demands for decentralization in Syria by the Kurdish autonomous administration as a possible political solution.

Kurds will demand a federal system Reuters quoted Badran Jia Kurd, an official in the Kurdish autonomous administration, as confirming that Syrian Kurds will demand a federal system that guarantees them autonomy within the framework of a decentralized state. In written statements to Reuters, Jia Kurd said that all Kurdish political forces in Syria have agreed on a common vision regarding the form of government, the identity of the state, and Kurdish rights, noting that they have emphasized the need to establish a federal, pluralistic, democratic parliamentary system.

The official added that achieving this goal requires preserving the administrative, political, and cultural specificity of each region by establishing local legislative councils and executive bodies to manage regional affairs, with internal security forces assigned to each region. He emphasized the need to define these arrangements within the constitutional framework.

Reuters noted that this is the first time an official in the Kurdish autonomous administration has explicitly announced this goal since the Kurdish parties agreed on it last month. Representatives from the Democratic Union Party (PYD) (the political wing of the Kurdish People's Protection Units, the main component of the SDF) and the Kurdish National Council participated in the meeting.

The Kurdish official's statement completely contradicts a previous statement by Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in which he affirmed his opposition to the federal system, stating that it lacks popular acceptance and is not in Syria's interests.

In this regard, observers point out that foreign interference in this issue is clearly evident, particularly the dangerous positions of the United States and the United Kingdom, as they support the efforts of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurds to achieve broad administrative autonomy, independent of the Syrian regime's authority in Damascus.

The United Kingdom, in particular, has long been a leading supporter of decentralization in Syria, pushing hard to give the Kurds and the Syrian Democratic Forces greater autonomy in governing their regions.

British support for Kurds in Syria According to political analyst Khaldoun Al-Dakkak, since the beginning of the Syrian war, the areas controlled by the SDF in the north and east of the country have served as a model for local governance with relative effectiveness in security, education, and health, with American and British support. London is promoting this model as a step toward stability in Syria and is pushing for it to be enshrined in any future political settlement.

According to Al-Dakkak, the British do not stop at military and logistical support for the SDF, but rather go beyond that to promote the idea of decentralization as an option to preserve ethnic and religious diversity in Syria. Given the presence of numerous ethnic and religious forces in the country, including Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, and Turkmen, the British seek to support a move away from the centralization of power in Syria. This approach is similar to London's policies to partition the country since 1920, during which the Arab countries were placed under mandate, and Syria was divided into three independent entities.

SDF forces hand over the oil sector This comes as local media outlets circulated reports that the SDF has handed over Sector 26, an oil field in the northeast of the country, to British military forces. The SDF issued an official order to hand over the sector to soldiers from the British private military and security company Aegis Defence Services. Meanwhile, the British company Gulfsands Petroleum holds a 50% operating stake in two oil fields in Sector 26 in Syria, located in the northeast of the country near the border with Iraq.

This raises suspicion among observers and political analysts, who have warned of the danger of Britain's increasing interventions inside Syria. On the one hand, it promotes the idea of partition, arms the SDF, and provides it with intelligence support. On the other hand, it circumvents its ally, Turkey, which fears the dangers posed by Kurdish forces, some of which it considers terrorists. It publicly conceals a "supportive face" for the Syrian government in Damascus, eager to lift sanctions against it.