The US special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, is expected to meet with the commander in chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazlum Kobane, in Erbil on Saturday, part of a concerted US effort to avert a full-blown conflict between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led SDF, said several well-placed sources briefing Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.

The meeting comes in the wake of a dramatic announcement on Tuesday by Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, pledging to recognize Kurdish rights. Sharaa signed a decree “affirming that Syrian Kurdish citizens are an integral and authentic part of the Syrian people, and that their cultural and linguistic identity is an inseparable component of Syria’s unified and diverse national identity.”

Citing the provisions of Syria’s transitional constitutional declaration that was unilaterally drafted by the government last year, the decree commits the state to protecting the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Kurds. Most critically of all it declares the Kurdish language a national language that can be taught in state-run and private schools in areas where the Kurds constitute a significant percentage of the population. The decree additionally states that March 21, marking the Kurdish new year or “Newroz,” will heretofore be a national holiday throughout Syria.

In a counter mov Kobane announced soon after via X that the SDF would be pulling back its forces at 7.00 a.m. local time from "the current contact lines east of Aleppo--areas that have been under attack for the past two days--and redeploy them to areas east of the Euphrates." The climbdown will have significantly reduced the risk of further conflict, analysts say.