The U.S. Welcomes the Syrian Interim Government's Agreement with the Kurds

The U.S. Secretary of State welcomed the agreement in Syria for the integration of autonomous Kurdish regional institutions into the national Syrian government. Marco Rubio stated on Tuesday evening, March 12, that "the United States welcomes the recent agreement between the interim Syrian officials and the Syrian Democratic Forces for the integration of northeastern Syria into a unified Syria." The new Syrian government, led by Ahmad al-Shara, the interim president of the country, has been seeking to dissolve armed groups and establish a government that can rule over the entire country since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime. The Syrian presidency announced on Monday that it had reached an agreement with the "Syrian Democratic Forces" to integrate the autonomous Kurdish region, which has controlled a large part of northeastern Syria for the past decade, into the national government. According to the fourth clause of this eight-point agreement, both parties agreed to "integrate all civilian and military institutions in northeastern Syria, including border crossings, airports, and oil and gas fields, under the management of the Syrian government." The published text of the agreement refers to the Kurdish community as "an authentic community in Syria whose government guarantees their citizenship rights and all their legal rights." The United States has been an ally of the Syrian Democratic Forces in recent years in the war against the extremist group known as the "Islamic Caliphate" or ISIS.