{"id":141193,"date":"2026-09-07T19:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T19:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=141193"},"modified":"2026-09-07T19:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T19:01:08","slug":"ypj-says-initial-deal-reached-with-damascus-on-integration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/","title":{"rendered":"YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013<\/strong> The Women\u2019s Protection Units (YPJ) says it has reached an initial understanding with Damascus to join the Interior Ministry as a special mission force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ruken Jamal, a YPJ spokesperson, told Rudaw on Monday that Syrian Interior Ministry officials \u201capproved in principle\u201d the force\u2019s proposal during meetings in Damascus in late August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The proposal calls for the YPJ to join the ministry as a unified force rather than having its members integrate individually or under different names, Jamal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She said the YPJ had initially proposed joining the Defense Ministry, but the proposal was rejected. The force now considers integration into the Interior Ministry a suitable alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur priority is preserving our status as an organized entity\u2014keeping our fighters, institutions and commanders intact,\u201d Jamal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Jamal, Interior Ministry officials will study the proposal before making a final decision. Damascus has not publicly commented on the reported understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If approved, the proposed special mission force would be deployed in cities across northeast Syria, she said, adding that such a unit would be the first of its kind in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The YPJ is the women\u2019s branch of the People\u2019s Protection Units (YPG), which formed a core component of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jamal said the YPJ had about 3,500 fighters when it joined the SDF during clashes in January, but its ranks have since declined to about 1,500. Some fighters have transferred to state-affiliated internal security forces voluntarily and with the YPJ\u2019s approval, while others have moved to civilian institutions or returned to civilian life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The YPJ played a major role in the campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS), which lost its last territorial stronghold in Syria in 2019. It also fought Turkish forces and Turkey-backed Syrian groups before the fall of Bashar al-Assad\u2019s government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jamal said 979 YPJ members have been killed in various conflicts, while six members remain in captivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>By Atoun Jan<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Women\u2019s Protection Units (YPJ) says it has reached an initial understanding with Damascus to join the Interior Ministry as a special mission force. Ruken Jamal, a YPJ spokesperson, told Rudaw on Monday that Syrian Interior Ministry officials \u201capproved in principle\u201d the force\u2019s proposal during meetings in Damascus in late [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":141194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-syria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Women\u2019s Protection Units (YPJ) says it has reached an initial understanding with Damascus to join the Interior\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Women\u2019s Protection Units (YPJ) says it has reached an initial understanding with Damascus to join the Interior\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North press agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-07T19:01:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-07T19:01:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260907142540_WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-04-at-03.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"publish\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"publish\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"publish\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3878bde0c368aec6b31c38f755807e5\"},\"headline\":\"YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-07T19:01:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-07T19:01:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":334,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/20260907142540_WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-04-at-03.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\",\"SYRIA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/\",\"name\":\"YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/20260907142540_WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-04-at-03.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-07T19:01:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-07T19:01:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Women\u2019s Protection Units (YPJ) says it has reached an initial understanding with Damascus to join the Interior\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/20260907142540_WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-04-at-03.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/20260907142540_WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-04-at-03.webp\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1270,\"caption\":\"Ruken Jamal, a YPJ spokesperson\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/141193\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"description\":\"North press agency\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"width\":682,\"height\":388,\"caption\":\"North press agency\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/NPA.SYR\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/NPA_English\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/northpressagency\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3878bde0c368aec6b31c38f755807e5\",\"name\":\"publish\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"publish\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/publish\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration","description":"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Women\u2019s Protection Units (YPJ) says it has reached an initial understanding with Damascus to join the Interior","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration","og_description":"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Women\u2019s Protection Units (YPJ) says it has reached an initial understanding with Damascus to join the Interior","og_url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/","og_site_name":"North press agency","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","article_published_time":"2026-09-07T19:01:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-07T19:01:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1270,"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260907142540_WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-04-at-03.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"publish","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NPA_English","twitter_site":"@NPA_English","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"publish","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/"},"author":{"name":"publish","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a3878bde0c368aec6b31c38f755807e5"},"headline":"YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration","datePublished":"2026-09-07T19:01:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-07T19:01:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/"},"wordCount":334,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260907142540_WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-04-at-03.webp","articleSection":["Politics","SYRIA"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/","name":"YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260907142540_WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-04-at-03.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-07T19:01:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-07T19:01:08+00:00","description":"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Women\u2019s Protection Units (YPJ) says it has reached an initial understanding with Damascus to join the Interior","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260907142540_WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-04-at-03.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260907142540_WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-04-at-03.webp","width":1600,"height":1270,"caption":"Ruken Jamal, a YPJ spokesperson"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/141193\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"YPJ says initial deal reached with Damascus on integration"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","name":"North press agency","description":"North press agency","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization","name":"North press agency","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","width":682,"height":388,"caption":"North press agency"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/NPA_English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/northpressagency\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a3878bde0c368aec6b31c38f755807e5","name":"publish","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"publish"},"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/author\/publish\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141195,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141193\/revisions\/141195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}