This Week in Northern Syria [22.2025]

May 28 - June 3: New Gov't-SDF meeting, Aleppo prisoner swap restarts, reported SDF-Turkish communications, and more...

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On June 1st the Syrian government hosted the SDF negotiating delegation in Damascus, to continue talks around implement the March 10th agreement signed by President al-Shar‘ and Mazloum ‘Abdi. According to both Syrian state and pro-SDF media the meeting resulted in:

1. Forming specialized subcommittees to follow up on the implementation of the March 10 agreement, signed between the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum ‘Abdi, and the President of the Transitional Government, Ahmad al-Shar‘

2. Striving to resolve outstanding issues in the examination file and examination centers, in a manner that guarantees student rights and the integrity of the educational process.

3. Discussing mechanisms to facilitate the return of displaced persons to their areas, and working to remove obstacles that hinder this return.

4. Reactivating the Ashrafiyah and al-Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods file, and seeking to address it in a way that serves stability and civil peace.

According to North Press Agency, the two parties agreed to “the approval of the formation of two committees from both parties to solve the problem of conducting secondary and preparatory certificate exams in the [DAANES] areas,” a key local issue due to the DAANES school system’s the lack of accreditation and students reliance on the government system’s exams. Meanwhile prior to this meeting the al-Sheikh Maqsoud agreement of April 1st had stalled out, largely due to disagreements over the mandated prisoner swaps. Notably the far more complicated and contentious issues relating the oil and gas, and future military integration were seemingly not discussed.