Agreement between Fatah al-Halab and the People's Protection Units on the Sheikh Maqsoud area and roads to Afrin

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Country/entity: Syria
Region: Middle East and North Africa
Agreement name: Agreement between Fatah al-Halab and the People's Protection Units on the Sheikh Maqsoud area and roads to Afrin
Date: 15 Dec 2015
Agreement status: Multiparty signed/agreed
Interim arrangement: Yes
Agreement/conflict level: Intrastate/local conflict
Syrian Conflicts (1948 - ) (1976 - 2005) (2011 - )
The agreements relate to three different conflict contexts. Israel-Syria and Syria-Lebanon. The Syrian-Israeli conflict was a key factor for the Syrian intervention during the Lebanese Civil War, with Syrian-backed Palestinian Liberation Army units intervened in 1976 against the Palestinian/Leftist militias. Following a massacre at Tel al-Zaatar that year, Syria was forced to accept a ceasefire at a meeting of the Arab League. However, the Arab League also mandated an Arab Deterrence Force, consisting of mostly Syrian soldiers with token contributions from other Arab League states, thus further legitimizing the Syrian presence in Lebanon. During a second bout of fighting that began in 1989, caused by the formation of rival Lebanese regimes in East and West Beirut, the Syrian-backed regime won and in 1991 the ‘Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination’ was signed to legalize the Syrian occupation as a means to ensure the security of Syria. Syrian forces were forced to withdraw in 2005 following possible involvement in the assassination of Lebanon’s President Hariri.

Syria-internal. In 2011, domestic upheaval following a wave of protests across the Arab World soon led to violent repression of protestors by Syrian government troops. The violence progressed steadily and by July 2011 the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed consisting of defected military units and new recruits. The FSA and rebel umbrella group known as the Syrian National Council represented the first attempt at coordinating rebel factions in late 2011. However, a steady influx of foreign fighters and increased sectarianism radicalised opposition groups, which relied on foreign funding. The nature of the conflict changed drastically in late 2013 as infighting among the opposition groups increased. One of the more significant developments was the split between the al-Qaeda outfits the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS), and Jabhat al-Nusra in early 2014 in addition to the intensified targeting of other rebel factions by ISIS fighters in particular, including the Kurdish Peshmerga, the FSA and other jihadist outfits. Since the summer of 2014, the conflict was further internationalized when ISIS announced the formation of an Islamic state eroding the state line between Iraq and Syria and also in mid-2015 when Russian forces intervened on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad government in Damascus.
Stage: Ceasefire/related
Conflict nature: Inter-group
Peace process: Syrian Local Agreements
Parties: Aleppo Operation Room
People's Protection Units
Third parties: -
Description: The parties agree to a ceasefire and to regulate civilian access routes. The hand written note in the original translation described the agreement coming into force as of 'September 19/2/2015' however the agreement was made on 15/12/2015 and the attached source describes it coming into force on the Saturday which is 19/12/2015. The translation has therefore been changed, please see source in implementation section.

Agreement document: SY_151215_Agreement between Fatah al-Halab and the People's Protection Units on the Sheikh Maqsoud area and roads to Afrin.pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF
Agreement document (original language): SY_151215_Agreement between Fatah al-Halab and the People's Protection Units on the Sheikh Maqsoud area and roads to Afrin_AR.pdf (opens in new tab)| Download PDF

Local agreement properties

Process type: Informal but persistent process
Rationale: There does not seem to be much by way of supporting mechanism to enforce besides the military committee formed by both parties. Nonetheless the source attached to the agreement suggests that this agreement appears to be related to other agreements around the same time in Aleppo, whereby there is a response to the initiative set out by the Shura reconciliation council in Aleppo.
Is there a documented link to a national peace process?: No
Link to national process: articulated rationale: No link can be inferred from this agreement as it is signed by local actors who have generally been opposed to national institutions and have taken a stance against resolution being led at national level.
Name of Locale: Sheikh Maqsoud
Nature of Locale: Region
GPS Lat/Long (DD): 36.237175, 37.153401
Participant type: Local armed group
Mediator, facilitator or similar: No mention of mediator or similar

Local issues

Ritual/prayer and process (including use of scripture): Page 1, God Bless
Grievance List: While the agreement does not mention causes of the dispute, sources indicate that the Army of Revolutionaries recently joined the SDF faction and began fighting alongside the Kurdish People's Protection Units. Yet, Aleppo Operation Room accused the Kurdish faction of being “workers and treason” after carrying out what it said was a massacre against civilians in the northern Aleppo countryside in November.
Cattle rustling/banditry: No specific mention.
Social cover: No specific mention.

Act of agreement

To avoid bloodshed and in response to the initiative launched by the Shura and Reconciliation Council in Aleppo by the parties, the following items were agreed upon:

1- The cease the fire between the two parties

2- Civilians crossing from Sheikh Maqsoud to Afrin, and vice versa, [are] secure in areas and checkpoints that are under the control of the Aleppo operational room, and with regard to [the crossing of] military personnel, it will be based on a prior coordination

3- Closure of the crossing in the Sheikh Maqsoud Sharqi [East] area, that links to the areas controlled by the [Assad’s] regime, and forming a joint committee from both sides to monitor the closure

4- Open the crossings [Roads] that lead to Afrin.

5- The factions of the Aleppo Operation Room factions to enter Sheikh Maqsoud Sharqi in accordance to agreement between the Army of Revolutionaries and the People's Protection [Units Yekîneyên Parastina Gel, YPG]

7- Sheikh Maqsood checkpoint, "Al-Seka", shared by both parties

8- Forming a military committee from both parties to implement the agreed points and study the [military] construction sites, to approve or reject them.

Note:

The agreement will enter into force immediately upon formal signature, publication, and the announcement

God Bless

[handwriting note] This Agreement entered into force December 19/12/2015

Tuesday 3 Rabi 'al-Awwal 1437,

December 15, 2015

Aleppo Operation Room People's Protection Units

[Signature] [Stamp] [Signature] [stamp]