On May 4, Russia, Iran and Turkey made an agreement in Astana to create “de-escalation zones” in Homs, Hama, Idlib and Damascus regions of Syria.

Syrian Democratic Council (MSD) issued a written statement on the agreement of “de-escalation zones” in Astana.

MSD described the agreement as “a deal with which guarantor states allocate their control” and said the following:

“This agreement does not include the entire Syrian territory as it refers to four regions, and it is an allocation of control between the guarantor states and the Syrian regime. The Syrian people have no gains from this agreement.

We are concerned that this agreement will cause the existing crisis in Syria to spill over into safe areas, disrupt the integrity of land and unity of the people, and take the Syrian crisis to a stage of sectarian and nationalist conflicts which will thus increase death and destruction.

We work with all sides to stop the war and end peoples’ suffering. SDF’s gains manifest our stance against terrorism and the fact that we will continue our Democratic Nation and Democratic Syria Project. This project is the only way to solve the crisis in Syria and free the country of darkness.

We call upon the International Coalition states and Russia to approach all peoples in Syria equally as it will be impossible to settle the problem unless the Syrian crisis is treated as a whole.”