Damascus: Syria holds elections in Hasakah and Kobane, Kurdish region under central authority

The Syrian government under transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday is holding by-elections to parliament in the north-eastern governorate of Hasakah and in the Kurdish town of Kobane, areas only reintegrated under direct central authority of Damascus in January of this year after fighting between Syrian security forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces led by General Mazloum Abdi. The rest of the country voted for the People’s Assembly in October last year, almost a year after the historic toppling of long-time president Bashar al-Assad in the rebel offensive of December 2024.

For Serbia, which kept its diplomatic embassy in Damascus throughout the civil war and which in February 2026 raised the level of bilateral relations with the signing of a protocol on economic cooperation, parliamentary elections in Hasakah are an important indicator of how far the Syrian transitional government can consolidate. Serbia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Marko Djuric, is sending an official observer to the elections via the Centre for Regional Cooperation in Pristina, part of a wider Balkan mission coordinated by Slovenia.

The reintegration of Hasakah and Kobane under Damascus’s central authority was part of an agreement reached in January between al-Sharaa and Abdi, after several months of mediation jointly conducted by Saudi Arabia and the United States. The agreement foresees the retention of limited Kurdish autonomy in education, local administration and cultural institutions, with central control of foreign affairs, defence, finances and the judiciary. Kurdish political parties, including the Democratic Party of Syria, are taking part in the elections with separate lists, expecting to win between 12 and 18 seats in the People’s Assembly out of a total of 210 available.

A credibility test for al-Sharaa’s transitional government

Al-Sharaa, who took power at the end of December 2024 at the head of a coalition led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is under constant pressure from Brussels, Washington and regional partners to demonstrate the capacity to build an inclusive political system that does not discriminate against minorities. According to the UN Security Council’s May report, Syria is in a transitional phase that envisages the drafting of a new constitution by the end of the calendar year, with formal presidential elections in the first quarter of 2027. The transitional government in March managed to pass a general amnesty for all SDF fighters who laid down arms by October last year, which eased the reintegration process.

Suzanne Maloney, vice president of the Brookings Institution and director of its foreign policy programme, in a short analysis for The Atlantic said that the elections in Hasakah and Kobane are “the first real test of al-Sharaa’s ability to do more than symbolic inclusion, because he needs to demonstrate that Kurdish voters can genuinely influence the composition of parliament.” On Maloney’s estimate, if turnout in Hasakah exceeds 35 percent, that would be a clear signal the Kurdish community recognises the legitimacy of the central process, which would open space for the easing of remaining US sanctions in the third quarter.

Brussels with withdrawn support, Washington keeps sanctions

Brussels, through EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, on Monday expressed support for the “democratic consolidation of Syria’s transition,” in language that avoids direct condemnation of intermittent incidents in the north-east but holds the line on protection of minority rights and judicial independence. Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, in a statement to AFP, signalled that the EU could, in the third quarter, consider partial lifting of sanctions on the Syrian banking sector, a question Brussels will finalise after a technical assessment of the results of the elections in Hasakah.

Washington under the Donald Trump administration has held its general sanctions stance towards Syria, but in February, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, opened a parallel channel of talks with al-Sharaa in Antalya, where gradual normalisation of relations was agreed, with a focus on combating the remaining Islamic State cells in the Syrian desert. According to the American Foreign Policy Council, the elections in Hasakah are seen in Washington as “a necessary but not sufficient test,” with the expectation that the next concrete step towards lifting sanctions will come only after the constitutional process is finalised.

The next concrete date is May 28

The next concrete date is the publication of official election results on May 28, after which the newly elected MPs will be included in the work of the People’s Assembly at an extraordinary session on June 7. The Syrian transitional government plans, in June, to launch the search for a new constitutional commission, which will have six months to prepare a draft of the new constitution, with a referendum envisaged for January 2027. Belgrade will, through its embassy in Damascus, follow every phase of the process, with a focus on broader economic cooperation that in recent months has touched the revival of the Bar-Latakia maritime route.

What do you think, are the elections in Hasakah a sign of genuine consolidation of the Syrian transition, or another symbolic gesture without real consequences for the Kurdish community?