Sozdar Muhammad

This week’s escalation in Aleppo city comes amid a deepening political crisis between Damascus and the SDF, particularly after the latest round of negotiations to implement the March 2025 agreement stalled. 

More than a month into the academic year in northeastern Syria, students enrolled in a number of schools remain locked out of their classrooms as a years-long struggle continues over what and how students learn in areas held by the SDF. 

A ceasefire halted clashes between Syrian government forces and the SDF in two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Aleppo city this week, but the outburst of violence highlighted how far the two sides are from implementing stalled integration agreements. 

Syria’s worst drought in decades has wiped out rain-fed crops and diminished yields across the country, devastating farmers and raising the risk of food shortages. 

Planned talks between the AANES and Damascus were postponed this week, while efforts to implement the March 10 agreement remain slow and complex. Two separate delegations from the northeast aim to negotiate, while Damascus still rejects decentralization.

After facing major local, regional and international pushback—including a Turkish threat to invade northeastern Syria—the AANES postponed municipal elections scheduled for this week until August, citing “internal” reasons and “the demands of the political parties and alliances participating.”

Erbil indicated it would again allow Syrians to renew their residency permits without conditions on Tuesday, reversing a prohibitive social security registration requirement and bringing relief after weeks of uncertainty.

The government of Iraqi Kurdistan is once more granting entry visas to Syrian passport holders, but limits them to those with interviews scheduled at foreign consulates and embassies. Meanwhile, it has set “prohibitive” conditions for renewing residency permits.

Erbil’s April 4 decision to stop issuing visas to Syrians has been a disaster for those for whom the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was a safe haven from conscription or a place to reunite with family members after years of separation.