According to Kurdistan Watch, the Syrian government is planning to open its consulate in Erbil as part of an effort to strengthen relations with the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, especially with the Barzani family. This move could open a new chapter in relations between Damascus and Erbil.According to Syria TV, a delegation from the Syrian Foreign Ministry will soon travel to Erbil to make administrative and logistical preparations for the opening of the consulate.

According to Kurdistan Watch, this move comes at a time when Damascus’ relations with Massoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq, and Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Region, have been improving in recent months. Political sources also reported that Hoshyar Zebari, a senior figure in the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq, visited Damascus last week. Although details of his talks with Syrian officials have not been released, the trip is seen as another sign of increased political contacts between the two sides.

These developments come at a time when the political alignment of the Syrian Kurds in the new power structure in Damascus is changing.In the new Syrian parliament, most of the seats reserved for Kurdish figures have been given to figures known to be close to the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq, while the Syrian Democratic Forces have a minimal presence in this structure by boycotting the political process and parliamentary elections.

In this context, the election of Abdul Hakim Bashar, one of the leaders of the Syrian Kurdish Patriotic Council and one of the closest Syrian Kurdish figures to the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq, as one of the highest Kurdish officials in the new Syrian political structure, is seen by observers as a sign of strengthening the position of the movement close to Erbil in Damascus.

This process, at the same time as the Syrian Democratic Union Party (S.U.P.) has been marginalized.d), the most important political force ruling the Kurdish regions of northern and northeastern Syria, during the formation of a new parliament, reflects a gradual change in the political balance in the Syrian Kurdish issue. Many analysts believe that Damascus, relying on close ties with Erbil and the movement close to the Barzanis, is seeking to create an alternative political partner to reduce the influence of the Democratic Union Party and limit the role of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the political future of the country.

If the Syrian consulate is opened in Erbil, this move will not only take bilateral relations between Damascus and the Kurdistan Region to a new stage, but could also significantly affect the internal equations of the Syrian Kurds and the process of negotiations between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces. These negotiations have faced serious challenges in recent months over how to integrate the political and military structures of northeastern Syria into the central government.Kurdistan Watch has emphasized that strengthening relations between Damascus and Erbil is important, given the warm relations between the Kurdistan Region and the new Syrian government with Turkey, as an important political and trade partner of the new Syrian government.