Clashes flare as top Turkish officials visit Syria ahead of a deadline for Kurdish integration

Clashes erupted between Syrian security forces and Kurdish fighters on Monday (December 22, 2025) as top Turkish officials visited Damascus ahead of a deadline to implement a deal between the government and Kurdish-led forces in the country's northeast. Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported that two civilians were killed and 15 were wounded by shelling, and that dozens of families fled two neighbourhoods of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which has seen previous outbreaks of violence. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, said 17 people were wounded and a woman was killed. The conflicting casualty reports could not immediately be reconciled. Late on Monday evening, the Syrian Defence Ministry announced an order to halt fire. It was not immediately clear how the new clashes in Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighbourhoods started. Syria's Civil Defence agency said two of its emergency responders were wounded after fighters with the Kurdish-led SDF opened fire on their vehicle. A statement from the Kurdish-led forces accused Syrian government forces of opening fire on a Kurdish checkpoint, while government officials accused the SDF of attacking first. In Damascus, the Syrian capital, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his talks with Syrian officials focused on the integration of the SDF into the new Syrian army, as well as on Israel's military incursions in southern Syria and the fight against the Islamic State group. “Syria's stability means Turkey's stability. This is extremely important for us,” he said, appearing alongside his Syrian counterpart, Asaad al-Shibani. He called on the SDF to “cease to be an obstacle to Syria achieving stability, unity and prosperity.” Mr Fidan's delegation, which also included Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, met with Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Jaafari. The integration deal faces obstacles Under the March agreement signed between al-Sharaa's government and the SDF, the Kurdish-led force was to merge with the new Syrian army, but details were left vague, and implementation has stalled. A major sticking point had been whether the SDF would remain as a cohesive unit in the new army or whether it would be dissolved and its members individually absorbed into the new military. Turkey has been opposed to the SDF joining as a single unit. Ankara considers the SDF as a terrorist organisation because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey, although a peace process is now underway. Kurdish officials have said that a preliminary agreement has been reached to allow three divisions affiliated with the SDF to integrate as units into the new army, but it's unclear how close the sides are to finalising it. The original deadline for implementation of the March deal was the end of the year, and there have been fears of a military confrontation if progress is not made by then. Al-Shibani, the Syrian foreign minister, accused the SDF of "systematic procrastination.” “We have not seen an initiative or a serious will from the Syrian Democratic...

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