Kurdish-led SDF dissolves to merge into Syrian army under President al-Sharaa

Dissolution at the presidential palace

Kurdish commander Mazloum Abdi announced the formal dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces on Tuesday during a press conference at the presidential palace in Damascus. The announcement concludes the group's status as an independent military force following an agreement reached with Syrian transitional authorities in January. Abdi had previously confirmed during an event in Qamishli that the integration of Kurdish security, administrative, and military structures into the national state was finished. The decision transfers all civilian administrative bodies and armed formations directly under the authority of the central government in Damascus.

Today we announce the end of the mission of the Syrian Democratic Forces and declare, with full responsibility, their dissolution as an independent military force.

Shifting alliances and territorial retreat

The Kurdish forces trace their origins to 2011, when the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Women's Protection Units (YPJ) organized self-governed cantons in Afrin, Kobane, and Jazira. In 2015, the United States helped form the SDF after Kurdish fighters defended Kobane against the Islamic State. At its height, the coalition commanded approximately 100,000 Kurdish and Arab fighters, controlling more than one-third of Syria, including key oil fields, before declaring the territorial defeat of IS in 2019. The militia's position weakened following Turkish military operations along the border between 2016 and 2019, and collapsed further after rebel groups ousted Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Syrian government offensives in January reclaimed Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces, triggering mass Arab defections and pushing Kurdish leaders toward direct negotiations.

Rights agreements and territorial control

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has sought to bring regional factions under a centralized administration while offering legal guarantees to minority populations. In January, al-Sharaa issued a decree restoring citizenship rights to Kurds stripped of nationality in a 1962 census. The transitional government also committed to establishing Kurdish-language education in schools during the current year. Abdi stated that the unified state must protect the futures of Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, and Assyrians alike. Following the SDF merger, the southern province of Sweida, held by the Druse minority, remains the only province not under the control of the Damascus government.

We want this day to mark a genuine transition from battlefields to the fields of construction, and from the era of weapons to the era of peace.

Diplomatic realignments in Washington

The dissolution coincides with a shift in United States foreign policy toward Syria. The Trump administration established direct diplomatic ties with al-Sharaa's transitional government, moving away from its partnership with the SDF. Washington also removed Syria from its state sponsors of terrorism list after 47 years and began easing economic sanctions. United States Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack, who also serves as ambassador to Turkey, endorsed the integration agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish leadership.

This is what true integration looks like: not winners and losers, but former counterparts with different views working out a diplomatic solution to strengthen the sovereign nation of Syria. One military, one government, one state.