Turkey’s top diplomat, defense minister and intelligence chief paid a sudden visit to Damascus. The visit Thursday comes days after Syria’s interim government reached a deal to integrate a U.S backed Kurdish-led armed group,

The deal would allow Kurdish-led forces which hold a quarter of Syria to merge with Damascus, along with regional Kurdish governing bodies.

The United States encouraged its Syrian Kurdish allies to reach Monday's landmark deal with the Islamist-led government in Damascus, six sources said, an agreement that could stave off further conflict in northern Syria at a time of uncertainty over the future of U.