DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the official dissolution of the group on Tuesday, which previously controlled a de facto autonomous zone in Syria's northeast. During a news conference at the presidential palace in Damascus, Mazloum Abdi stated that the SDF has completed a merger with the Syrian army and will cease to operate as an independent force. The SDF lost most of its territory in northeast Syria to a government offensive in January and subsequently signed the merger agreement with the army.
The SDF was formerly the main partner of the United States in Syria in the fight against the Islamic State group. However, following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December 2024, Washington established closer ties with the new government in Damascus, led by interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was previously the leader of an Islamist insurgent group.
Abdi remarked that the SDF "carried a heavy responsibility during one of the most difficult periods in Syria's history." He noted that "today, circumstances have changed, and the country has entered a new phase, one of peace and participation in building a new Syria," while announcing the "end of the SDF's mission" and its dissolution as an independent military force.
Under the 50-year rule of the Assad dynasty, Kurds faced marginalization, with many denied citizenship. Public celebrations of the Nowruz holiday, which is celebrated by Kurds in Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, were prohibited. After the uprising against the Assad government began in 2011, the Kurds filled the power vacuum left by the withdrawal of government forces from large areas of Syria's northeast, with the SDF at one point controlling about 25% of the country.
Initially, the Kurds were cautious about the new post-Assad government and reluctant to relinquish their de facto autonomy. Some insurgent groups that participated in the offensive to oust Assad were Turkish-backed forces that had previously clashed with the SDF.
Turkey has classified the SDF as a terrorist organization due to its connections with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a separatist group that has conducted a long-standing insurgency in Turkey. A peace process is currently underway.
Kurds have expressed concerns regarding whether the new Sunni Arab-led authorities will provide them with genuine representation in the new government, while al-Sharaa has attempted to engage them. During ceasefire negotiations with the SDF in January, he issued a decree that enhanced Kurdish rights, making Kurdish an official language alongside Arabic and recognizing Nowruz as a national holiday. The decree also restored citizenship to tens of thousands of Kurds in the northeastern Hassakeh province, who had been stripped of it during the 1962 census.
Abdi mentioned that al-Sharaa had assured that Kurds would have the right to education in their own language, which is a significant issue for the Kurdish population in the country.