The deal calls for an immediate cease-fire, following recent government gains that stripped the militia of key strategic assets.
After weeks of intermittent fighting, the Syrian government and a Kurdish-led militia agreed on Sunday to an immediate cease-fire and the full integration of the militia into Syria’s national armed forces, according to state media and Kurdish officials.
The agreement also paves the way for Damascus to reassert control over much of a semiautonomous region in northeastern Syria that has long been administered by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (S.D.F.). The 14-point deal follows two days of major territorial losses for the militia, during which government forces seized strategic assets including dams, oil fields and airports that the S.D.F. had controlled for years.
While similar agreements have been reached in the past, analysts say this deal marks a turning point, with the Kurds negotiating from a far weaker position after recent battlefield defeats.
“This looks like the end of the S.D.F. as an independent force,” said Lara Nelson, policy director at the research group Etana Syria.
The Kurds, Syria’s largest ethnic minority, carved out a semiautonomous administration in the northeast during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war, establishing their own governing institutions, education system and legal framework. Those gains now appear at risk.
Under the new agreement, the S.D.F. will hand over full control of Raqqa and Deir al-Zour provinces to the central government, leaving only Hasakah province under limited Kurdish administration. Damascus will assume authority over border crossings, appoint provincial governors and bring government institutions in Kurdish-majority areas under central control.
The government will also take over Syria’s oil and gas fields, most of which had been under S.D.F. control, along with responsibility for prisons holding more than 8,000 captured Islamic State fighters and the Al-Hol detention camp, which houses tens of thousands of their relatives.
Control of these facilities has long been a concern for the U.S.-led coalition, which partnered with the S.D.F. to defeat the Islamic State. The United States has also maintained ties with Syria’s new government, leaving Washington caught between two allies as clashes escalated.
In recent weeks, government forces captured key towns, dams and energy infrastructure across northern and eastern Syria. On Sunday, state media reported that troops took control of the Euphrates Dam, one of the country’s most important water and hydroelectric facilities.
U.S. special envoy Thomas J. Barrack Jr., who met President Ahmed al-Sharaa shortly before the deal was announced, praised both sides, saying the agreement opened the door to renewed dialogue and cooperation.
“The challenging work of finalizing a comprehensive integration agreement begins now,” he said, adding that the United States would support the process.
President al-Sharaa, who came to power after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, has sought to consolidate authority under a centralized government in Damascus. His administration has faced criticism from Kurdish leaders and other minorities over concerns about political inclusion.
In a move widely seen as an olive branch to Kurds, Mr. al-Sharaa recently issued a decree recognizing Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic and declared Nowruz, the Kurdish New Year, an official holiday.