The appointment of Kurdish commander Sipan Hemo as the Syrian interim government’s deputy defense minister is a milestone in the ongoing effort to integrate the Kurdish-led northeast region of Syria with the rest of the country. It marks the first time in the Levantine nation’s modern history that a Kurdish figure who openly advocates for Kurdish rights has been granted such high office. Just as critically, it helps to cement a US-brokered truce announced Jan. 28 between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces after three weeks of intense clashes. The SDF lost more than 80% of territory under its control. 

Hemo’s new role as deputy defense minister for the eastern region, a euphemism for what remains of the Kurdish-governed area, was announced on state television late Tuesday.

The move goes beyond recent gestures by the interim government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, to win over Syria’s long-repressed Kurdish minority. These include declaring Kurdish a “national language” and allowing the Kurdish language to be taught as an elective class. It is also aimed at signaling greater inclusiveness of Syria’s diverse minorities. The move comes amid heightened international scrutiny following last year’s mass killings of Alawite and Druze civilians by government forces and armed Sunni factions and tribes. The US Congress threatened to reimpose sanctions on Damascus when its forces launched what the SDF said was an unprovoked assault against its forces in early January and abuses that rights groups have compared to war crimes, though far smaller in scale than those perpetrated against Alawites and Druze.

Inside the deal