Syrian, Kurdish leaders meet after Paris talks called off

Syrian, Kurdish leaders meet in Damascus after Paris talks called off — A composite image of Elham Ahmed (left) a senior Syrian Kurdish official and co-head of the Foreign Relations Department in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the North and East Syria, Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, 2025. Photo: iKurd.net/Rudaw TV/WEF

QAMISHLO,— Syria’s foreign minister met a senior Kurdish official in Damascus this week, according to sources on both sides, days after the Syrian government refused to attend planned negotiations in Paris.

Elham Ahmad, a top figure in the Kurdish-led administration in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), held talks with Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Monday evening at the request of Damascus, a Kurdish official told AFP. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

A Syrian government source, also declining to be identified, confirmed the meeting but did not share details of the discussions.

The talks follow Damascus’ decision to boycott an international meeting in France, citing Kurdish sponsorship of a gathering last week that included Druze and Alawite community leaders.

Those groups have faced increased sectarian violence in recent months. The Kurdish-hosted event called for a decentralized state — a position Syria’s new authorities have repeatedly rejected.

Some reports suggested Turkey urged Damascus to avoid the Paris meeting with Kurdish representatives.

Negotiations between the Kurds and Damascus have been ongoing over how to carry out a March 10 agreement between General Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the de facto army of Syrian Kurdistan, and Islamist interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by the name Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

The deal aims to integrate Kurdish-run civil and military structures into state institutions.

Progress has stalled over political differences. Monday’s session sought to keep the process alive through “intra-Syrian committees under international supervision,” the Kurdish official said. Both sides agreed that “there was no place for a military option” in resolving disputes, the official added.

The two parties also discussed possible frameworks for decentralization but did not set a timetable.

Syria, France and the United States had previously announced plans to meet in Paris “as soon as possible” to advance the March agreement.

Abdi said in a July television interview that the Paris talks were to address how his roughly 100,000 fighters could be incorporated into the defense ministry.

The Kurdish Autonomous Administration, created in 2018, governs the northeast with a system based on democratic confederalism, emphasizing direct democracy, gender equality, secularism and environmental sustainability.

The model has been credited with significantly increasing women’s roles in politics and local governance.

(With files from AFP)