VOA Kurdish: SDF-Syrian army deal prompts debate
Voice of America
In this photo released by Syrian state news agency SANA, Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, shakes hands with Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, in Damascus, Syria, March 10, 2025. (SANA via AP)
After Mazloum Abdi signed an agreement with Ahmad al-Sharaa let the Syrian Democratic Forces join the Syrian army, political reactions were swift and divided. Some observers translate this move as a Kurdish concession to the demands of both Turkey and the Syrian government. Others argue the agreement is a necessary step to reduce internal and external pressures on the Kurds in Syria. In her report, Snur Krim spoke with political observers and representatives of the Self-Administration in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to explore the potential implications of this agreement and what it could mean for the future of Kurdish autonomy in Syria.
Students and other anti-government protesters block access to the offices of state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), keeping employees out and forcing some of its live programming to go off air, in Belgrade, Serbia, March 11, 2025.
Bystanders pray at 2:46 p.m., March 11, 2025, in Tokyo, as Japan marked the 14th anniversary of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster that devastated the northeastern coast. Employees of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings take AP journalists to the area under the Unit 5 reactor pressure vessel, which survived the 2011 tsunami, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Futaba town, Japan, Feb. 20, 2025. The Unit 3 reactor covered with protective housing at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, run by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), is seen in Okuma town, Japan, Feb. 20, 2025. This handout taken on Feb. 28, 2024 and released by TEPCO shows a drone landing during the 'primary containment vessel internal investigation' of Unit 1 at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture. (TEPCO/AFP)
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, left, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hold a meeting with Ukrainian officials, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, March 11, 2025. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz meet with Ukrainian officials Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and deputy head of the presidential office Pavlo Palisa in Jeddah. (Nike Ching/VOA) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and others Ukrainian officials hold a meeting in Jeddah in the presence of Saudi officials, on March 11, 2025.
Employees of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdingstake AP journalists to the area under the Unit 5 reactor pressure vessel, which survived the earthquake-triggered tsunami in 2011, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Futaba town, northeastern Japan, on Feb. 20, 2025.
FILE - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, right, and Vice President Riek Machar, left, attend a Holy Mass led by Pope Francis at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan, Feb. 5, 2023.
This photo released by Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyev official telegram channel shows damaged and burnt cars following a Ukrainian drone attack in Domodedovo, outside Moscow, Russia, on March 11, 2025.
FILE - Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama sits on his ceremonial chair after he arrived at the Tsuglakhang temple to give a sermon at the request of a Buddhist group from Taiwan in Dharamshala, India, Sept. 30, 2024.
FILE - A bird flies through a thick layer of smog in New Delhi, India, Nov. 20, 2024.
Russian documentary filmmaker Vitaly Mansky in 2023.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference on the sideline of the National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2025.
FILE - Laborers carry sacks of ore at the SMB coltan mine near the town of Rubaya in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 13, 2019.