ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani welcomed on Tuesday a landmark agreement between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which will see the Kurdish-led forces and all other institutions in northeast Syria integrated into the Syrian state institutions, describing the move as a “suitable roadmap for the future.”

After months of deliberation and negotiations, Sharaa and Abdi on Monday signed an eight-point agreement to officially integrate the Kurdish-led SDF forces along with all other institutions in northeastern Syria into the Syrian state institutions.

“We congratulate our brothers in Syria for the agreement between Syria's President and the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which constitutes a suitable roadmap for the future and a good transitional period,” Barzani wrote in a post on X. 

The Kurdish President reiterated "the Kurdistan Region's full support for peace and stability in Syria" while stressing "the need to protect the rights of all Syrian communities and their active participation in building a free and prosperous Syria.”

The agreement is set to see the integration of all civil and military institutions in northeast Syria into the Syrian state administration including border crossings, airports, and oil and gas fields, according to a copy of the accord that was published on Syrian state media.

The agreement also outlines the recognition of the Kurdish community as an authentic community in the Syrian state and requires that the Syrian state “shall guarantee its rights of citizenship and all its constitutional rights.”

The two sides also agreed on a ceasefire across Syrian territories, refusing attempts to divide the Syrian state, and the need to guarantee the return of Syrian refugees.

“Executive committees will work on and seek to implement the agreement by no later than the end of the current year,” read the last point of the agreement.

Soon after Sharaa and Abdi put pen on the landmark deal, people joyously celebrated across the country, especially in the predominantly Kurdish northeast. 

“Syrians welcoming the agreement, like many other nations in the region, reflects their desire for stability and peaceful solutions, far from violence,” the Kurdish president wrote in his message. 

The SDF currently controls the bulk of the northeastern and eastern regions of Syria, amounting to a quarter territory of the country. Formed in 2015, the SDF is strongly backed by the US and is considered the Kurdish de facto army in Syria.

An 11-day sweeping rebel offensive spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Sharaa, brought a five-decade-long rule of the Assad family to an end on December 8.

During a conference declaring the victory of the Syrian revolution in late January, the new Damascus administration announced that all armed factions would be dissolved and integrated into the state institutions.