Syrian Transitional Government and SDF Announce Merger Amid Sectarian Violence and Constitutional Shift

Residents of northeast Syria celebrate a breakthrough deal between Syria's interim government and the SDF. (AP Pool/Baderkhan Ahmad)

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed on March 10 to merge with the Syrian government amidst an outbreak of sectarian violence on the country’s Mediterranean coast. The U.S.-backed SDF, crucial in the fight against the Islamic State, agreed to cede its control of military and civil infrastructure in northeast Syria. In an integration of forces and resources that was reportedly encouraged by the U.S., vital border posts, airports and oil fields within the 46,000 sq. km of land under SDF control will fall under the administration of the Syrian Transitional Government. 

The agreement was announced following a meeting between Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and SDF commander, Mazloum Abdi, in Damascus. Abdi hailed the deal, which promises expanded Kurdish political representation, as a “real opportunity to build a new Syria.” The agreement also constitutes a recognition of the Kurdish minority, oppressed for decades under the Assad regime, as “an integral part of the Syrian state.”

Three hours from the leaders’ meeting place in Damascus, along Syria’s 260 km of Mediterranean coastline, a week-long surge of violence claimed the lives of 1,300 people — many of whom were civilians. Clashes between Syrian government security forces and Assad regime loyalists, constituted in part by members of the Alawite ethno-religious minority, resulted in the summary executions of Alawite civilians in Latakia and the neighbouring provinces of Tartus, Hama and Homs.

The Alawites benefited greatly from the coreligionist Assad family’s half-century of rule. The group, inhabiting primarily coastal Syria, constituted a significant portion of the country’s ruling Baath government since the party gained power in 1963. As Bashar Al-Assad’s regime teetered in 2011, Alawite military support safeguarded his control of the country until Russia’s intervention. 

After Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other rebel factions toppled the Assad regime, the Syrian Transitional Government began the “de-baathification” of the country’s government and military — a process accompanied by the “de-Alawitization” of Syria. 420 people, including civilians, disarmed combatants and children, were killed by forces aligned with the Syrian Transitional Government between March 6 and March 10, 2025.

Interim President al-Sharaa promised accountability for the violence, even if his political allies were involved in the bloodshed. The president’s office announced the creation of an independent committee to investigate the killings. Addressing Syrians from a mosque in Damascus, Sharaa urged cooperation and tolerance. 

“We have to preserve national unity and domestic peace, we can live together," Sharaa said. “What is currently happening in Syria is within the expected challenges.”

President al-Sharaa prepares to sign the country’s interim constitution in Damascus. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

On March 13, 2025, days after his mosque address, al-Sharaa signed a temporary Syrian constitution to be in effect for a five-year transitional period, establishing Islamic law as the transitional government’s judicial foundation. The document also contains protections for the press, and ensures women’s “social, political and economic rights.” 

For Syria, a nation crippled by border incursions, Israeli aerial attacks, domestic sectarian unrest and convalescence from decades of authoritarian rule, the path toward a sustainable peace is uncertain. The interim government's signing of a five-year constitution, and its merger with the SDF, nonetheless offer the hope of national unity and stability.