ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) on Tuesday argued that the interruption of integration talks and the subsequent clashes in Aleppo’s Kurdish quarter indicate that Damascus had obtained the approval of the US and international powers for the operation.

KCK, the political umbrella group of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), claimed in a statement that the collapse of talks between Kurdish and Syrian authorities regarding the integration of the Kurdish-led forces into the Syrian army, and the ensuing clashes “shows that the approval of the US and international powers in the region was obtained or that their silence was secured.”

The group pointed out that the clashes in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority neighborhoods coincided with the signing of a coordination agreement between Israel and Syria, which it described as “the agreement to hand over southern Damascus to Israel.”

Syria and Israel agreed to establish a “joint fusion mechanism” to facilitate coordination on intelligence sharing and military communication last Tuesday, following a high-level US-mediated meeting between Syrian and Israeli delegations in Paris.

“It is also known that the US and France mediated the talks between Damascus and the delegation of North and East Syria,” KCK added.

Delegations from the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have held several rounds of talks on the implementation of the March 10 agreement, including some meetings in Paris. The most recent meeting took place on January 4 in Damascus, a day prior to the Syrian-Israeli meeting in Paris.

Damascus-affiliated factions began a military operation in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyehneighborhoods last Tuesday, aiming to drive out the Kurdish-led internal security forces (Asayish). The clashes went on for six days and led to hundreds of civilian casualties and the displacement of more than 155,000 residents.

The KCK claimed that the aim of the attacks was to “de-Kurdify” the neighborhoods and “eliminate” the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava).