Syrian govt slams Kurdish move to reopen and administer Qamishli Airport

The future of Qamishli Airport has emerged as a new flashpoint in tensions between Syria's interim government and Kurdish-led authorities in the country's north-east.

The Kurdish-led Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) on Thursday announced it would set up a new agency to reopen and operate the airport, effectively sidelining the government's civil aviation authority.

In response, the civil aviation authority asserted it had the exclusive right to manage the country's airports, saying in a statement that any move by DAANES to use it would be a "clear violation of laws and international aviation regulations".

It added that the airport was currently closed for operational reasons, a decision which was "binding on all airline companies and concerned parties locally and internationally".

Qamishli Airport has been closed to civilian flights for almost a decade due to the country's brutal 14-year civil war.

It was used by the Assad regime and Russia as a military base prior to the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces captured it from pro-Assad fighters amid the lightning offensive launched by Islamist-led rebels in late November.

DAANES has continued to allow the Russian military to use the airport as a base since the coming to power of former Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has threatened to end Moscow's leases on the Hmeimim airbase and Tartous naval facility.

The dispute over the airport is the latest episode in the ongoing standoff between the central government and a Kurdish leadership wary of the country's new leaders.

Syrian Kurds, who currently control around 25 percent of the country, are pushing for a federal system that allows them to retain some autonomy from Damascus, an idea opposed by the interim government.

The two sides signed an agreement in March to begin reintegrating Kurdish forces and organisations into national institutions, but in practice, little has changed on the ground.

Syria's mostly Sunni new authorities have pledged to protect the rights of Druze, Kurdish, Christian and other minorities since coming to power in December and have attempted to assuage concerns.

Mass killings of Alawite civilians in March have stoked fears, however, that the country's new rulers may not be willing or able to crack down on outbreaks of sectarian violence.