America News Agency

According to security sources, within the framework of the March 10 understanding, the Syrian government has carried out political negotiations at various levels for around 10 months to ensure that PKK/YPG withdraws from the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo without conflict.

The sources stated that during this process the organization “attempted to buy time at the negotiating table, while continuing to destabilize the area on the ground through attacks targeting Aleppo’s city center.”

The statement noted that the de facto division in Aleppo threatens not only security and stability but also economic development. Following attacks by PKK/YPG elements on road checkpoints affiliated with Syria’s Ministry of Interior, tensions in the region escalated again as of January 5, 2026.

In light of the developments, it was reported that the Syrian Ministry of Defense planned a “limited operation” to remove PKK/YPG from the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, emphasizing that during the planning and execution stages, protecting all Syrian citizens, including Kurds, was treated as a priority, and maximum care was taken to prevent civilian casualties.

Sources said that within this scope, contact was established through various channels with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and that some figures, including SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazlum Abdi and Ilham Ahmed, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, displayed an openness to compromise.

It was reported that in the initial phases of the operation, the outer neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud were cleared of YPG elements without major clashes; however, after the evacuation of Ashrafieh and the encirclement of Sheikh Maqsoud, instructions were issued from the Kandil leadership to the elements in the area to “stay and fight.” The statement stressed that “the responsibility for all losses resulting from PKK’s choice of confrontation over compromise lies with Kandil.”

Security sources stated that PKK uses civilians as human shields in Kurdish neighborhoods and occupies some buildings in and around hospitals, endangering the lives of patients and the wounded. While the Syrian army acts cautiously in these areas due to civilian sensitivity, many Syrian security personnel have nonetheless lost their lives in sniper attacks carried out by the organization through tunnels.

It was also reported that Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization has pursued efforts of dialogue and reconciliation since the very beginning of the incidents to end the clashes and ensure the safe evacuation of civilians, but these initiatives were obstructed by PKK.

The statement emphasized that PKK’s attempts to portray the events as an “ethnic attack against the Kurdish people” do not reflect the truth, and that what occurred was not an Arab-Kurdish conflict. While stressing that the Kurdish people are a fundamental component of Syria, it was stated that the main objective is to build a shared future on the basis of consensus with the participation of all ethnic and religious groups.

Security sources concluded that despite all developments, the “Terror-Free Türkiye” process carried out under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues, and that these incidents will not derail this process.