ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday celebrated the anniversary of toppling the regime of Bashar al-Assad, while warning that hateful language in the new government remains “unacceptable”, and urging guaranteed rights and the safe return of displaced people in northeastern Syria.

A coalition of rebel forces led by the jihadist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) marched into Damascus on December 8, 2024, and overthrew Syria’s longtime ruler Assad, sending him fleeing to Russia after lightning rebel advances from the north.

In the wake of Assad’s fall, HTS and affiliated groups dissolved and its membership took up the reins of governance in Syria, forming a transitional government led by Ahmad al-Sharaa as the country’s interim president.

Celebrating Assad’s ouster, the SDF General Command on Monday said the long-ruling Baathist regime dragged Syria into “catastrophe” and “tyranny”, committing “the most heinous forms of violence” against its people, especially in northern and eastern Syria.

It defined the dictator’s toppling as “a product of legitimacy stemming from the people, from their resistance and steadfastness.”

“Today, its fall is not merely a political event, but the fall of a mentality based on monopolizing power and ignoring the people’s will,” it added.

The SDF warned that reviving this mentality would return Syria to the pre-December 8 era.

It stressed that while Syrians are occupied with building a new future, “the language of incitement and hatred” is still being used by “some parties in authority and those close to them,” who are trying to recycle the same divisive discourse. 

“This tense and arrogant discourse is no longer acceptable and cannot be the basis for building a new homeland; rather, it is a direct continuation of the regime's mentality that has fallen and will not return,” it said. 

“That dark era must be closed forever.”

The SDF said the next phase must include an inclusive national dialogue and a new social contract guaranteeing rights, freedoms, and equality, while preventing a return to tyranny.

The Kurdish force urged the safe return of hundreds of thousands of displaced people from Afrin, Ras al-Ain (Sari Kani), and Tal Abyad (Gire Spi), calling it a national priority for any just political solution.

The Kurdish-led SDF, the de facto army of northeast Syria (Rojava), has been the US-led global coalition’s main partner on the ground in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. The Syrian government recently joined the coalition in November.

Syrian President Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi signed an agreement on March 10 to officially integrate the Kurdish-led forces and all other institutions in Rojava into the Syrian state institutions.

But nearly eight months later, disagreements still run deep between Rojava and Damascus about the model of governance in Syria, with Sharaa aiming to consolidate power and maintain full control over all Syrian territories, while the Kurds advocate for a federal state where they hold a degree of self-governance.

Speaking to Rojava-affiliated media on Monday, Maryam Ibrahim, spokesperson for the Negotiation Committee of Rojava’s Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), stressed that “there must be guarantor states” for the March 10 agreement with the Syrian government to proceed, blaming Damascus for delaying its implementation.

Ibrahim warned that if the March 10 agreement is not implemented, “there are serious signs of internal conflicts,” and called for it to be carried out “soon.”