ISTANBUL

The YPG/SDF terror group's role as the "primary anti-ISIS (Daesh) force on the ground" has "largely expired" as Syria is ready to assume security responsibilities, US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said Tuesday.

"Historically, the US military presence in northeastern Syria was justified primarily as a counter-ISIS partnership," Barrack wrote on the US social media company X, noting that no functioning central government existed under the regime of Bashar Assad.

Syria's situation has "fundamentally" transformed with Damascus joining the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS as its 90th member in late 2025, he wrote.

Damascus is now "willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities," including control of ISIS detention facilities and camps, he said.

Washington is actively enabling the handover rather than extending a separate role for the terror group, and the US "has no interest in long-term military presence" in the region.

The agreement between Syria and the YPG/SDF terror group includes transferring key infrastructure, border crossings, ISIS prisons and camps to Damascus while providing the Kurds with a governance role "far beyond the semi-autonomy the SDF held amid civil war chaos," Barrack added.

Washington's priorities include "supporting reconciliation, and advancing national unity without endorsing separatism or federalism," he emphasized.

The envoy said US efforts in Syria center on ensuring security at prison facilities, holding Daesh detainees and facilitating negotiations between the terror group and Damascus for a "peaceful integration" and a "historic full Syrian citizenship" for the Kurdish population.

The "greatest opportunity" for Kurds lies in the "post-Assad transition under the new government," offering "a pathway to full integration" into a unified state with citizenship rights, cultural protections and political participation, he added.

Barrack admitted that challenges persist but Washington is advocating for protections of Kurdish rights and continued counter-ISIS cooperation, warning that prolonged separation "could invite instability or ISIS resurgence."

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced a ceasefire and agreement for full integration of the YPG/SDF terror group into state institutions late Sunday.