US Backs Plan to Merge Foreign Fighters into Syria’s Post-Assad Army: Envoy

US special envoy also reiterates call for incorporating Kurdish-led fighting force into reconstituted Syrian military.
Members of the Kurdish Asayish security forces in Hasakeh Province, Syria, on April 18, 2025. Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images
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Washington has voiced support for a plan by Damascus to incorporate thousands of foreign Islamist fighters, many of whom fought the former regime, into the ranks of Syria’s reconstituted military apparatus.

When asked on June 2 whether Washington supported the plan, Thomas Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, responded in the affirmative but said the plan should be carried out “with transparency.”

Barrack said it was better to include foreign fighters in Syria’s state-run military apparatus, stressing that most of them were “very loyal” to the new leadership in Damascus.

Last December, the long-ruling regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was toppled by a Turkey-backed rebel offensive. The offensive was led by Hezb Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a terrorist group with former links to al-Qaeda.

HTS began as the al-Nusra Front and was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in 2018.

Syria’s new HTS-led leadership has sought to consolidate political authority and bring the country’s disparate armed factions under state control.

Syria remains home to a host of terrorist groups and armed factions, many of which continue to operate independently.

The United States had initially called for the exclusion of non-Syrian Islamist fighters from the country’s post-Assad national army.

It has changed its stance since mid-May, when U.S. President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, all staunch supporters of Syria’s new leadership.

In Riyadh, Trump announced the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria and met HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who now serves as Syria’s interim president.
Sharaa, who used the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, was previously subject to a $10 million bounty placed on him by the United States. The bounty was lifted after Assad was ousted.

Sharaa has previously said that some foreign fighters—and their families—could be granted Syrian citizenship for their role in fighting the former regime.

On May 24, Barrack met Sharaa in Istanbul, where he praised the Syrian leader for taking “meaningful steps” toward integrating foreign fighters into the state-run military apparatus.

Kurdish Fighters

In March, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led armed group backed by Washington, signed a deal with Damascus to incorporate its fighters into the Syrian national army.

Established in 2015 to combat the ISIS terrorist group, the U.S.-backed SDF currently controls much of northeastern Syria.

Kurdish-led SDF fighters wave flags from a vehicle during a convoy procession as they leave Aleppo, Syria, on April 9, 2025. (Mohamad Daboul/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Kurdish-led SDF fighters wave flags from a vehicle during a convoy procession as they leave Aleppo, Syria, on April 9, 2025. Mohamad Daboul/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Last month, however, NATO member Turkey, which views the Kurdish-led SDF as a terrorist group, said the deal with Damascus had yet to be implemented.

“In order for stability to be achieved in Syria, there must be a comprehensive government, a single legitimate armed force,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on May 15.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the SDF of using “stalling tactics” to avoid implementation of the deal with Damascus.

“We had said before we welcomed the agreement,” Erdogan said in a May 29 statement released by his office. “But we see that the Syrian Democratic Forces are still continuing their stalling tactics. They must stop this.”

In a significant shift the following day, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said his group was in “direct” contact with Ankara in hopes of improving relations with Turkey.

“We have direct ties, direct channels of communication with Turkey ... and we hope that these ties are developed,” Abdi said in televised remarks.

On June 2, Barrack said Washington was pursuing efforts aimed at integrating the U.S.-backed SDF into the Syrian military.

In broadcast remarks cited by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, he said the SDF now operates under the protection of U.S. Central Command.

He added that pressure was mounting to implement the agreement with Damascus to merge SDF fighters into Syria’s national army.

Without cooperation, Barrack said, the U.S. military presence in northeastern Syria—roughly 2,000 troops—could be further reduced.

Reuters contributed to this report.