In a televised address from the presidential palace in Damascus, Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), declared the formal dissolution of the Kurdish-led militia. The announcement, made after talks with President Ahmad al-Sharaa, brings an end to a force that for nearly a decade served as Washington's principal ally in the fight against the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
“We announce today the end of the mission of the Syrian Democratic Forces and declare, with full responsibility, their dissolution as an independent military force,” Abdi said. He described the move as the beginning of “a genuine transition from battlefields to the fields of construction, and from an era of weapons to an era of peace.”
From US partner to state institution
The SDF was created in 2015 at the urging of the United States, drawing its core from the People's Protection Units (YPG), the main armed group of Syria's Kurdish community. At its height, the SDF controlled a de facto autonomous region across much of northeastern Syria, including valuable oil fields and agricultural land. Its fighters were instrumental in defeating IS, most notably in the battle for Raqqa.
Turkey, however, has long viewed the YPG as the Syrian extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organisation by Ankara, Washington, the European Union, the UK and France. Turkish forces have conducted multiple cross-border operations against the SDF in northern Syria.
The dissolution is the culmination of an agreement signed on 29 January, which provided for a ceasefire and the gradual transfer of SDF-affiliated military and civilian institutions—including border crossings, energy infrastructure, prisons and camps holding IS detainees—to Syrian state control. The SDF had already lost much of its territory to a government offensive in January, and had withdrawn from areas west of the Euphrates after clashes in Aleppo in December 2025.
President al-Sharaa, who took power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, has been working to consolidate state authority across the country. On 16 January, he signed a decree guaranteeing Kurdish national rights, recognising Kurdish as a national language, declaring Nowruz an official public holiday, and granting citizenship to Kurds who had previously been denied legal status. The United States described the broader integration deal as “historic.”
Abdi said political efforts would now intensify to ensure Kurdish rights are enshrined in the new Syrian constitution. He also called on Turkey to play a “facilitating, constructive and open to dialogue” role in the process.
The dissolution is a significant victory for al-Sharaa, who has sought to bring all armed factions under the Defence Ministry. Following Abdi's announcement, Syrian authorities said they had reached an agreement with “all armed factions” to dissolve and integrate them into the national army. This includes groups previously backed by Turkey that fought the SDF for years, making the integration politically delicate.
PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned on İmralı Island since 1999, said the SDF-Damascus agreement would “ease and accelerate” what he called the “Turkey without terror” process. He described the situation in Syria as “a clear reflection of the need for democratisation.”
The end of the SDF marks a turning point for Syria's northeast, where Kurdish self-rule has been a defining feature of the post-2011 landscape. For European capitals, the development raises questions about the future of the fight against IS and the treatment of Kurdish minorities. As Syria moves toward reconstruction, the integration of former rivals into a unified army is a test of al-Sharaa's ability to build a stable state. For more on the challenges facing Syrians returning home, see this report on the harsh new reality. Meanwhile, the removal of Syria from the US terror list could open the door to investment, as analysts note.
