Syria’s Ruling Islamists ‘To Integrate Kurds, Druze,’ After Massacres (Worthy News In-Depth)

by Stefan Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Despite allegations of massacres by his forces, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has convinced Kurdish fighters to support him and join Syria’s state institutions by the end of the year.

In comments monitored by Worthy News on Tuesday, Syria’s presidency confirmed that the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls much of Syria’s oil-rich northeast, signed the deal with Sharaa.

The accord will ensure “the rights of all Syrians in representation and participation in the political process and all state institutions based on competence, regardless of their religious and ethnic backgrounds,” Shaara stressed.

The SDF also pledged to help Shaara combat armed loyalists of “the regime” of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in a December revolt, well-informed sources said.

Shaara signed the agreement with SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi, who called it “a real opportunity to build a new Syria that embraces all its components and ensures good neighborliness.”

Separately, Syria’s government reportedly reached an accord with the Druze community after Israel warned Syria’s government not to harm them.

The deal with Druze leaders in the southern province of al-Suwayda marks a shift in the region’s relationship with Damascus after years of unrest, said sources with close knowledge about the situation.

STATE INSTITUTIONS

As part of the agreement, the Syrian government and community leaders will reintegrate al-Suwayda into state institutions.

Additionally, some 300 security personnel will be deployed to the province, while 600 local residents will be reinstated into the police force, according to Israeli and Arab sources familiar with the deal.

The accords come after Shaara pledged to investigate mass killings of Alewitwa and Christians that were allegedly carried out by his forces and others in recent days.

The well-informed United Kingdom-based war watchdog, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said at least 973 civilians had been killed, including women and children.

An additional 300 members of government security forces and 148 Assad-aligned militants were reportedly killed in the clashes as well.

The Islamist-led authorities in Damascus have accused armed Assad loyalists of sparking the unrest by sowing civil strife in western Syria.

Sharaa said mass killings of members of ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s minority sect were a threat to his mission to unite the country and promised “to punish those responsible,” including his allies, if necessary.

VIOLENCE OUTBREAK

He blamed the outbreak of violence in recent days on a former military unit backing Assad’s brother and an unspecified foreign power, likely Iran.

However, he acknowledged that in response, “many parties entered the Syrian coast and many violations occurred,” including by his Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that led the ouster of President Assad in December.

“It became an opportunity for revenge” for years of pent-up grievances, he said in an interview with Reuters news agency, adding that the situation had since been largely contained.

The violence in the west was Sharaa’s biggest test since he seized power. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday condemned the killings.

Christians were also killed, Worthy News reported, including a Christian father and son, Antoine and Fadi Boutros, who were shot dead in Latakia, Syria’s central port city. On Friday, another Christian died in his home after he was hit by a bullet that appears to have gone astray in the fighting between the two sides, said advocacy group Open Doors.

Attempts to end the bloodshed through deals with minorities followed an appeal by heads of Syria’s main churches who condemned the killing of civilians, including women and children.

PATRIARCHS’ LETTER

The statement, signed by Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X of Antioch, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, and Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Youssef Absi, also urged reconciliation.

“In recent days, Syria has witnessed a dangerous escalation of violence, brutality, and killings, resulting in attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children. Homes have been violated, their sanctity disregarded, and properties looted—scenes that starkly reflect the immense suffering endured by the Syrian people,” they wrote.

“The Christian Churches, while strongly condemning any act that threatens civil peace, denounce and condemn the massacres targeting innocent civilians, and call for an immediate end to these horrific acts, which stand in stark opposition to all human and moral values,” the church leaders added.

The churches “also call for the swift creation of conditions conducive to achieving national reconciliation among the Syrian people.”

They “urge efforts to establish an environment that facilitates the transition to a state that respects all its citizens and lays the foundation for a society based on equal citizenship and genuine partnership, free from the logic of vengeance and exclusion. At the same time, they reaffirm the unity of Syrian territory and reject any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.

“The Churches call on all concerned parties within Syria to assume their responsibilities, put an end to the violence, and seek peaceful solutions that uphold human dignity and preserve national unity. We pray that God may protect Syria and its people and that peace may prevail throughout the land,” the patriarchs stressed.

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