Media reported on the new Syrian authorities' demand to the PKK to lay down arms

The new leadership of Syria during talks with representatives of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) demanded that they lay down their arms. This was reported by the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet on January 6.

Sources told the newspaper that the Kurdish party in exchange for laying down their arms asked the new Syrian administration to integrate the PKK division or corps into the official Syrian army. The newspaper recalled that the Kurdish organization, which is backed by the US, was also able to develop Syrian oil fields and its representatives at a meeting with the administration of the Arab republic allegedly offered to divide these assets in half.

The new Syrian administration refused to discuss all these conditions and simply demanded that the PKK lay down its arms. The authorities gave similar instructions to other armed groups. Hürriyet added that the fulfillment of such a condition is very important, otherwise civil war may break out again in Syria.

The Syrian leadership also noted that those representatives of the PKK who are not citizens of the Arab republic must leave the country. Members of the Kurdish organization, not involved in any crimes, will be able to count on employment in the local security forces.

Migration thesis: what awaits Syrian refugees in the EU after Assad's departure

Will they want to return to their homeland under the new government?

Earlier, on December 13, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Ankara that Turkey supports preserving Syria's territorial integrity but will defend its national security if it faces threats from the Syrian opposition or the PKK.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on December 8 that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had resigned as head of state after talks with the opposition and left the country, instructing a peaceful transfer of power.

The situation in Syria escalated as a result of a major attack by armed formations in Aleppo and Idlib, which began on November 28 and led to the Syrian army's retaliation against the militants.