Syrian government cancels participation in Paris meetings over SDF forum

The Syrian government announced that it has cancelled its plans to participate in the Paris meetings where they were scheduled to negotiate with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The meeting was cancelled after the SDF hosted a forum on Friday with various representatives, including Druze leader Hikmat al-Hijri, with Damascus calling the move a "blow to ongoing negotiating efforts".

Syria's state news agency quoted a government source as saying that Damascus would not be involved in negotiations with any side that aims to "revive the era of the former regime".

This came after the forum, hosted by the Kurdish-led SDF group, which governs northeast Syria, called for the review of the constitutional declaration issued earlier this year by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The participants in the forum also criticised the country's government over sectarian clashes that broke out in Syria's southern province of Suweida in recent months.

"The current constitutional declaration does not meet the aspirations of the Syrian people...it should be reviewed to ensure a wider participatory process and a fair representation in the transitional period," a communique issued after the forum read.

The source told the SANA news agency the forum resembled an attempt to present proposals that were contrary to the March agreement and that the Syrian government would not therefore be attending planned meetings in Paris with the group.

It accused the Kurdish-led group of hosting "separatist figures engaged in hostile acts," holding the SDF fully responsible for its implications, including the reimposition of sanctions and the "summoning of foreign intervention".

This comes after the SDF signed a deal in March that would see them join the government’s state institutions.

The deal did not specify how the SDF would be merged with Syria's armed forces, however. The SDF has previously said its forces must join as a bloc, while Damascus wants them to join as individuals.

The ongoing dispute is the latest in a recent conflict between the Syrian administration and the SDF after clashes between the group and government forces earlier this month.

According to The New Arab’s Arabic language sister publication, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, a government source further said that Damascus "strongly condemned” the forum and considers it an attempt to "attract foreign intervention and reimpose sanctions, which the SDF will bear the legal, political and historical consequences for".

The source added the conference was an "attempt to present proposals that contradict the March 10 agreement by either calling for the formation of a nucleus for a new national army, reconsidering the constitutional declaration, or amending administrative divisions".

"The Syrian government affirms the full rights of religious or ethnic groups to express political groups, holding meetings and establish their parties within national legal frameworks – provided their activities are peaceful, that they don’t bear arms against the state, and they do not impose their vision on the Syrian state," the source continued.