Published in the Jerusalem Post, 16 September 2026
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was formed back in 2015.
A year earlier ISIS had proclaimed
itself to be a worldwide caliphate, claiming religious and political
authority over all Muslims. It then proceeded to conquer and absorb great swathes of Syria and Iraq, and was designated a terrorist organization by the UN, the US
and many countries, including Muslim-majority states.
Opposing
ISIS in northern Syria were the
Kurdish-led YPG (People’s Protection Units). Together with the closely linked YPJ (Women’s
Protection Units), they joined with Arab, Assyrian and other local armed groups
to create a broader coalition, and this became the SDF.
The
US had already begun supporting
the YPG, particularly during the battle for Kobani in 2014–15. After the SDF was formed, Washington began arming,
advising and providing air support to it as its principal ground partner
against ISIS.
Backed by Washington, the SDF proved remarkably successful in combating
ISIS. It conquered stronghold after
stronghold, and finally, with the capture of Baghouz in 2019, ended the ISIS
caliphate in Syria.
In the years that followed, the SDF developed its own security forces
and civilian administration, and became the military and governing authority
across much of north-eastern Syria.
Because the SDF was Kurdish-led and YPG-dominated, its powerful presence was opposed by Turkey.
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He was doubtless delighted with the announcement on August 25 by Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the SDF. Speaking in a televised press conference in Damascus, he declared that, following an agreement with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the SDF's mission had ended and that it was being dissolved “as an independent military force” and was being integrated as brigades into the Syrian army.
His announcement covered not only
the military functions of the SDF, but also the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and its affiliated
military and civilian institutions. Abdi
said these structures had likewise been integrated into Syrian state
institutions.
As president of the post-Assad
government in Syria, Sharaa is attempting to bring the disparate political,
military and social forces that have been operating independently under the
authority of a unified Syrian state.
On 10 March 2025 Sharaa and Abdi hammered
out a deal. The SDF's civilian and
military institutions, including border crossings, oil and gas facilities, and airports,
would come under state control. In
return the Kurds would be recognized as an integral part of Syria, be granted citizenship,
political participation and other rights.
The deal lacked detail and was too fragile to hold. In January 2026 government forces launched a lightning offensive against the SDF, rapidly capturing substantial SDF-held territory. The SDF’s hopes of US protection, as in the past, were dashed, but a generous ceasefire deal saw SDF personnel entering Syria’s defense and interior ministries, while the government took over the border crossings, oil and gas fields and civilian institutions.
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The
integration process continued over the next few months leading, eventually, to
Abdi’s dissolution announcement which was not, of course, simply a voluntary
decision by the SDF to disband. It was the end-point of a negotiated political
settlement whose terms were progressively reshaped by the dramatic change in
the military balance. The SDF leadership ultimately calculated that incorporation
into the new Syrian state offered a better prospect for preserving Kurdish
interests than trying to maintain an autonomous armed enclave against Damascus,
Turkey and a less dependable US patron.
A few days after the SDF's
dissolution Sharaa appointed Mazloum Abdi as a presidential adviser. The appointment was widely read as a sign that
Sharaa, far from trying to destroy the Kurdish leadership, was intent on
integrating it into the nation’s governance.
The SDF's
disappearance is a major piece of Sharaa's state-consolidation project, but it
is not the last, or necessarily the hardest, piece. Major steps are still required. He has to complete acquiring state monopoly of
armed force. The SDF was the biggest
remaining autonomous military structure, and its dissolution is therefore a
major breakthrough, but there are a fair number of former rebel and militia
formations, and all need to be subordinated to the state.
He has to resolve the problem of
the semi-autonomous Druze community in Sweida, which remains largely outside
effective central-government control.
His challenge is to negotiate a restoration of state authority without
provoking another major sectarian conflict.
Then there is the problem of building
a genuinely national political settlement.
Ideally he would like Syria's Kurds, Druze, Alawites, Christians and
other minorities to accept that their future security lies within a central
Syrian state. The Kurdish settlement illustrates the model Sharaa appears to
favor – recognizing communal rights, but eliminating autonomous armed and
quasi-state institutions.
Sharaa needs, within a reasonable
period of time, to complete the transition from revolutionary government to a
fully functioning state – national ministries, judiciary, police, taxation,
public services and a unified economic administration. It is currently a
fragile transitional administration dependent on concentrated presidential
power.
Finally there is his declared
objective to establish a permanent constitution and elected government.
On
March 13, 2025, Sharaa signed a Constitutional Declaration establishing
the legal framework for a five-year transitional period leading to a permanent
constitutional settlement and democratic elections.
The People’s Assembly, which first
convened in Damascus in July 2026, is a transitional legislature rather than a
fully elected parliament. Two-thirds of
its 210 members were selected by regional electoral colleges, while Sharaa appointed
the remaining 70.
The roadmap is to move from this
interim framework to a permanent constitution, followed by parliamentary
elections. The Constitutional Declaration provides for a five-year transition
from March 2025, ending only when both the permanent constitution has been
adopted and elections held under it. March
2030 is currently the outer horizon. The immediate next step is to establish
the body that will be charged with drafting the new constitution.
The absorption of the SDF’s
military and administrative functions into the state was a vital step toward the
eventual achievement of a fully functioning, democratic, constitutional Syria.
