YPJ Integration Stalls as Kurdish Women's Force Fights for Identity in New Syria

Negotiations over the future of Syria's all-women fighting units have become a sticking point between Kurdish groups and the new government in Damascus, with no resolution yet on how the Women's Protection Units, known as the YPJ, will be absorbed into the national security structure.

YPJ commander Nowruz Ahmad said the force had asked to serve as a regiment within the interior ministry's special mission forces, but that the proposal was turned down. According to Ahmad, officials told the group that the special mission forces include no women because they are an operational unit. They instead suggested increasing the number of women already serving in the ministry and in general security, an offer Ahmad said the YPJ does not oppose in principle.

"It has not been solved fully, the issue of our YPJ forces," Ahmad said, adding that how, where and in what form the force will be integrated all remain under discussion.

Ahmad also said the YPJ had requested to stay in its current areas of operation in Hassakeh and Aleppo provinces, and that the government had shown openness to that arrangement. The force currently counts about 1,500 women, down from a peak of 5,000.

Inside the ranks, fighters insist that preserving a distinct, women-only structure is essential. Nuda Zagros, a 19-year-old fighter, said an independent all-women force is the only way to secure a place within the government while retaining the unit's own will and identity. Amara Botan, a 29-year-old leader, framed the demand in broader political terms, saying women must have a place in a democratic Syria and that the units intend to prove themselves and play an active role in the country's transition.

The current military authorities in Damascus, most of whom emerged from Islamist former insurgent groups that overthrew the Assad government, are opposed to women serving in combat roles. Interior ministry officials declined to comment on the negotiations.

Kurds made up roughly 10 percent of Syria's pre-war population of 23 million and were long marginalized under the Assad dynasty. During the civil war they established a de facto autonomous zone in the northeast, and with the new government reasserting control over the region, Kurdish communities are anxious about losing the rights they gained under self-rule.