Erbil, Iraq – The merger of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the government forces last month has sparked a debate among many Kurds in Syria as well as in neighbouring Iraq and Turkiye about the future of their rights. Though Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has promised constitutional protection for Kurdish language and political rights, analysts question if the decision to drop the “armed struggle” will imperil the struggle to secure Kurdish rights and identity. Abdi said an “important page” had been turned in Syria’s history.
While some Kurdish politicians hail the integration as a door for the Kurds to participate in building the new Syria and to demand their rights through the constitution, others consider the step a result of Turkish and US pressure. Turkiye has calculated close ties with the Syrian government, which came to power after Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December 2024, and has attacked Kurdish fighters along its border with Syria in the past. Although the US helped form the SDF in 2015, it threw its weight behind the al-Sharaa government.
The US-backed SDF, which was formed to fight the ISIL (ISIS) group, controlled Syria’s northeast, home to most of the country’s Kurdish population, for more than a decade. But earlier this year, the government forces took over northern Syria in a swift military push. After months of talks, the SDF was disbanded, and the Kurdish-led Autonomous administration was dissolved.
Talal Mohammed, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Peace Party in Syria, believes such developments are a turning point in the course of the Kurdish issue. But Mohammad warns that Turkiye is pushing to end the issue of armed Kurdish groups. Turkiye considers the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which led a decades-long armed rebellion, and its affiliates in Syria, Iraq and Iran as “terrorist” groups.
Ankara accuse them of launching attacks to destabilise the region through separatist violence. The PKK decided to dissolve in May 2025 and end the armed conflict. The move came months after jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan urged the group to lay down its arms in a bid to end the conflict, which has killed thousands.
Turkish government welcomed the move. Ankara views the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which led the SDF, as a “terrorist” group and an arm of the PKK inside Syria. Mohammad explains that the PKK is the most important Kurdish group in the entire region, and it affects the file of the Kurds in Syria.
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