QAMISHLI: A US-backed Kurdish-led alliance said on Saturday that it is seeking a roadmap for a decentralised Syria in talks with the government which opened in Damascus this week, reports AFP.

The Syrian Democratic Forces alliance, which controls a swathe of the north and northeast, said it had agreed with the government to form joint committees to discuss the major issues after a first round of talks on Thursday and Friday.

The SDF’s political arm, the Syrian Democratic Council, said the aim was to “clear the way for a broader and more comprehensive dialogue” and forge a “roadmap leading to a democratic and decentralised Syria”.

Before civil war erupted in 2011, Syria had a highly centralised form of government which provided no constitutional recognition for the rights of the Kurds and other minorities.

But after government forces pulled out of Kurdish-majority areas in 2012, the Kurds seized the opportunity to set up their own administrations and implement longstanding demands such as Kurdish-language education.

The SDF formalised the new administrative arrangements in 2016 with the creation of autonomous cantons in areas under its control that it regards as a model for a federal system nationwide. The Damascus government has opposed the scope of the self-rule sought by the Kurds but late last year Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said a “form of autonomy” was “negotiable”.