ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack on Thursday revealed that the integration of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the Syrian state apparatus was discussed in a Washington meeting between the American, Syrian, and Turkish top diplomats days prior.

The high-level meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Syrian and Turkish foreign ministers Asaad al-Shaibani and Hakan Fidan, mapped out “the next phase of the [US-Syria-Turkey] framework,” involving “integrating the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the new Syrian economic, defense, and civic structure,” Barrack said on X. 

The meeting took place on the sidelines of a historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday. 

The SDF and the Syrian government are set to meet “in the coming weeks” in Damascus to discuss the future of northeast Syria (Rojava), the co-chair of Rojava’s ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) said on Wednesday. 

“After Sharaa returns to Syria, this matter will be discussed with the SDF,” said Salih Muslim, noting that US mediators and the international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) will be present during the talks. 

Ankara and Damascus have been intensifying calls on the Rojava administration and its Kurdish-led forces to integrate into the Syrian state apparatus outlined in the March 10 agreement, with both parties deeming the presence of the autonomous administration as a threat to their national sovereignty.

SDF chief Mazloum Abdi on Tuesday reaffirmed the Kurdish-led forces’ commitment to “accelerate the integration of the SDF into the Syrian state,” citing his phone call with US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack discussing the Sharaa-Trump meeting.

While open to integration, SDF and Rojava authorities have repeatedly demanded the preservation of the degree of autonomy they uphold, calling for a decentralized form of governance and a collective integration of the Kurdish-led forces that maintains its structure and leadership. 

“Now there is assimilation and there is integration. We want to integrate into Syria on the basis of democracy,” Muslim said.