ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Roksan Mohammed, spokesperson of the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), told The New Region in an exclusive interview that all-female force has not yet taken on any official roles in the Syrian state security apparatus, insisting that it maintain its command structure and autonomy as talks with the Syrian interior ministry continue.

“Our discussions, negotiations, and consultations with the Ministry of the Interior are continuing. Within the framework of integration, the YPJ must take its rightful place in the ministry as a special forces unit, keeping its command structure and its autonomy as a women's unit,” Mohammed said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were disbanded on August 25 as part of the January 29 integration agreement, but the YPJ’s integration talks with Damascus still have not been completed.

While the SDF was integrated into Syria’s defense ministry, the YPJ has instead been holding integration talks with the interior ministry, as no women are in the ranks of the former institution.

“Apart from these talks on integration, the YPJ has not taken on any official roles,” she added.

“The YPJ has built up considerable experience and professionalism in organization, ideology, society, security, defense, and stabilization. The legacy of the struggle it has carried to this day gives it a crucial role in building a new Syria, because this force has defended women, women's rights, and the rights of the people for years,” she stated.

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Nevertheless, Mohammed underlined that the YPJ will keep working to ensure that women's identity, and above all women's rights, are guaranteed in all Syrian institutions. 

Damascus has faced criticism for its exclusionary policies towards women. For instance, Human Rights Watch (HRW) this month criticized new rules barring women from two new state universities focused on defense and security.

“Women must take their rightful place within them and be represented in decision-making bodies. This must be enshrined in the Syrian Constitution and recognized as a fundamental pillar of society, because of the struggle women have waged for many years, led by the YPJ.”

“Our work as the YPJ is rooted in our long defense of women's identity and rights. Through our pioneering role in the fight against the Baath regime and its ideology, and against the terror of ISIS, we have achieved lasting gains and helped establish security. These gains protected not only women and their very existence, but society as a whole, other peoples and the international community.”

Mohammed also emphasized that the role of women and the YPJ must be recognized in the new Syria. “Women's presence and participation in every field of security and the military will make reconstruction and a new beginning possible,” she said.

“Women's participation, and the proper integration of the YPJ into the country's new security and military structures, will give Syria a new face. Only through such participation can we prevent violations of the rights of women and peoples.”

Despite the integration agreement, tensions have continued in Hasaka. On October 26, a Kurdish group of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the town of Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) in northern Syria were attacked upon arriving in the city as they attempted to return to their homes. 

In Hasaka city, Arab residents in the Ghuwairan and Nashwa neighborhoods of Hasaka have also protested on Fridays against the SDF and attacked Kurdish symbols.

“The events in Hasaka, the provocations behind them, and the recent attacks on people from Gire Spi, who wanted to return home after years of displacement, are racist attacks,” the YPJ spokesperson said.

“They are ISIS attacks: dishonorable and disrespectful assaults on displaced people. Their aim is to spread instability and insecurity, to keep people living in constant fear, and to weaken integration or prevent it altogether.”

Mohammed stated that those responsible for the events in Tal Abyad must be held accountable, and investigations must be conducted. After the events of October 26, returns to Sari Kani (Ras al-Ayn) were halted indefinitely until the security of IDPs can be guaranteed.

“It is not enough to announce that perpetrators will be held to account and that investigations will follow. Those who have offended against the values and ethics of the people and endangered internal peace must actually answer for it. Without real accountability, this will happen again and again.”

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This is not the first time that Kurdish IDPs have been attacked - on August 10, 2026, Kurdish displaced persons trying to return to the town of Sari Kani (Ras al-Ayn) were surrounded and assaulted.

“The people of this region have lived together for years and made great sacrifices to defend it; many have been martyred. Yet the aggressors have shown no respect,” Mohammed said.

“These are ISIS. They have always spread fear and terror in the region, and now they want to do so again in Hasakah. Our people are vigilant against these provocations, but the government must urgently conduct a proper investigation.”

During the earlier conflict between Damascus and the SDF, Syrian Transitional Government (STG) forces on January 10, after five days of heavy fighting, took the Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, including Sheikh Maqsoud, from the SDF. Recently, there were reports of the destruction of a cemetery of Kurdish fighters in Sheikh Maqsoud.

On October 16, the YPJ spokesperson condemned the “desecration of the grave of martyred commander Shervan at the Martyrs’ Cemetery in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, as well as the earlier destruction of martyrs’ shrines in Afrin.”

She also called for the establishment of a specialized joint committee to restore and maintain these cemeteries and shrines.

“The published images and the completed reports leave no doubt about what happened in Sheikh Maqsoud,” she said. “These crimes can only be confronted if the government recognizes the martyrs of the YPJ, the YPG, and the SDF as martyrs of Syria, and enshrines this in the Constitution.”

This is not the first time that graves of SDF fighters were desecrated and vandalized during and after the conflict between the SDF and Damascus in January. For instance, in Shaddadi, Raqqa, Tabqa graves were desecrated by armed groups.

In the past, graves were vandalized after Turkish military forces and Turkish-backed armed groups took Afrin in March 2018 from Kurdish forces.

“The martyrs' graves in Sheikh Maqsoud, Afrin, and Shehba must be rebuilt and restored. They must not be left unprotected and must have their rightful place under the law,” Mohammed said. “Those responsible must be held accountable. A committee is needed, and the damage must be redressed.”

“Our comrades fell defending the land and the unity of Syria. That is why they are Syria's martyrs, and this must be acknowledged. They must be protected from such immoral attacks and honored anew.”

“The martyrs are our red line. They are the children of these people, who gave their lives to defend our rights and our honor. The Syrian government must fulfill its responsibilities: restore the cemeteries in Afrin, Shehba, and Sheikh Maqsoud, and recognize all those who sacrificed their lives in the Constitution. That is the right response to the violations in Sheikh Maqsoud, and the way to make sure they do not happen again,” she concluded.