Damascus Backs Kurdish Nominee for Hasakah Governor in Ceasefire Deal With SDF

Qamishli, The Amargi – The Syrian transitional government has agreed to a nominee put forward by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to govern Hasakah Province, in a move that underscores the fragile political accommodations emerging from recent ceasefire talks between the two sides, according to informed sources.

Under the agreement, Nour al-Din Ahmad — widely known as Abu Omar Khanika — is expected to assume the post of governor of Hasakah, one of Syria’s most strategically sensitive provinces. The decision forms part of broader understandings tied to a ceasefire and the gradual integration of military and administrative institutions in northeast Syria.

The Syrian North Press Agency reported that Mr. Ahmad is scheduled to travel to Damascus within the next two days as part of a political delegation to discuss the practical steps needed to implement the agreement announced at the end of January.

Mr. Ahmad, 56, is a well-known figure within the Autonomous Administration in the northeast. Born in Qamishli in 1969, he holds a diploma in mechanical and electrical engineering from Damascus University. Before the uprising, he worked in the telecommunications directorates in Hasakah and Qamishli. He was dismissed from his post in 2012 after taking part in anti-government protests during the early stages of the Syrian conflict.

In the years that followed, Mr. Ahmad became deeply involved in the institutions of the Autonomous Administration, focusing in particular on civil peace initiatives. In 2014, he was appointed head of public relations for the SDF and later became a member of its general command, placing him at the heart of the Kurdish-led military and political project in the northeast.

His personal history is also marked by loss. His son, Omar, was killed in 2014 during the battle to defend Kobani against the assault by the Islamic State group, a defining moment in the war that cemented the SDF’s international profile and Kurdish sacrifices in the fight against extremism.

According to the same sources, the agreement between the SDF and the Syrian transitional authorities also includes the deployment of security forces affiliated with Syria’s Interior Ministry into the city centers of Qamishli and Hasakah starting Monday. These forces are expected to oversee the early stages of institutional integration between the two administrations — a process fraught with mistrust after more than a decade of parallel governance.

While the nomination of a Kurdish-backed figure for such a senior provincial post may signal a tactical compromise by Damascus, analysts caution that the arrangement remains highly tentative. The entry of central government security forces into Kurdish-administered cities has historically been a flashpoint, and many residents fear that integration could ultimately erode the limited autonomy achieved during the war.

For now, the appointment of Nour al-Din Ahmad stands as one of the clearest indicators yet that both sides are testing a new balance — one shaped less by battlefield lines than by political exhaustion, external pressure, and an uneasy search for stability in a region long defined by conflict.