The Japan Times - Deadly clashes in Aleppo as Turkey urges Kurds not to be obstacle to Syria's stability

At least three people were killed in the clashes, which came ahead of a deadline for implementing a March 10 agreement between Damascus and the Kurds to integrate the SDF -- which controls vast swathes of Syria's oil-rich northeast -- into the state.

State news agency SANA cited the defence ministry as saying that the Syrian army's general staff had issued "an order to stop targeting the sources of fire".

The US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) meanwhile said they had "issued directives to our forces to cease responding to attacks".

The two sides had earlier traded blame over who started the clashes.

State news agency SANA said on Monday that "two civilians were killed and eight others were wounded in SDF shelling on districts of Aleppo", a city that has witnessed heightened tensions and a previous bout of violence between the two sides in October.

The SDF said a woman was killed and 17 civilians wounded on its side by "rocket and tank shelling carried out by Damascus government factions on the Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods in Aleppo".

Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh have remained under the control of Kurdish units linked to the SDF and the Kurds' domestic security forces, despite a disengagement agreement reached in April with Syria's new Islamist authorities.

Syria's interior ministry said Kurdish forces attacked government personnel at joint checkpoints in the two Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods.

The SDF instead accused "factions affiliated with the interim government" of carrying out an attack on a checkpoint.

The defence ministry denied attacking SDF positions, while the Kurdish-led force denied targeting Aleppo neighbourhoods.

In October, Syria announced a comprehensive ceasefire with Kurdish forces following deadly clashes in the districts.

Under the March deal between Damascus and the SDF, the Kurds' civil and military institutions should be integrated into the central government by year end, but differences have held up the deal's implementation despite international pressure.

- 'Stability' -

In Damascus, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a presidency statement said.

Turkey and Syria have developed close ties since the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last year and Ankara, a key supporter of the new authorities, sees the presence of Kurdish forces on its border with Syria as a security threat.

"It is important that the SDF be integrated into the Syrian administration through dialogue and reconciliation, in a transparent manner, and that it no longer acts as an obstacle to Syria's territorial integrity and long-term stability," Fidan told a press conference with Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani.

Fidan claimed the Kurds "do not intend to make much progress" on implementing the March deal.

Shaibani said authorities had received an SDF response to a Syrian defence ministry proposal on integrating the Kurdish-led forces.

Damascus is studying "this response and how it responds to the national interest in achieving the integration and achieving a single unified Syrian territory", he said.

Last week, a Kurdish official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Damascus's proposal included splitting the Kurdish-led forces into three divisions and a number of brigades, including one for women.

The forces would be deployed under SDF commanders in areas of Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria, the official said.

It was Damascus's first written proposal since the March deal, the official added, noting "international and regional efforts" to finalise the agreement by year end.

Turkey shares a 900-kilometre (550-mile) border with Syria, and has launched successive offensives to push the SDF from its frontier.

Fidan said "Syria's stability means Turkey's stability".

Shaibani said the talks also addressed "combating terrorism and preventing" a resurgence of the Islamic State jihadist group.

T.Maeda--JT