The retreat of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces is a huge win for the government in neighbouring Turkey, which sees the group as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK has waged a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, and Ankara views its affiliates in neighbouring Iraq and Syria as its number one security concern.
Developments in Syria also weigh on an ongoing PKK dissolution process in Turkey, which officials have said cannot move forward until all the group’s affiliates disarm, including those south of the border.
Changing dynamics favour Turkey
Turkey has gained considerable leverage in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in 2024, and has provided Damascus with political, military and security backing, including training of Syrian personnel.
It had been pushing for the implementation of a deal signed last March that outlined a framework for the integration of the US-backed SDF into a central army controlled from the Syrian capital.
With the implementation of that agreement stalled, the Syrian government this month moved militarily against the SDF, which agreed to pull out from swathes of territory it held.
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