The writing has been on the wall for Syria's armed Kurds since early 2025 as the US, once their close ally, forged ties with its rivals in the Syrian government.
In March 2025, Washington pressured the Syrian Democratic Forces, the mostly Kurdish militia set up in 2015, to sign an integration deal with President Ahmad Al Shara. A community that was on the political ascendancy during Syria's civil war became an obstacle for major powers jostling for position in a new Syria.
But it was not until Tuesday that SDF leader Mazloum Abdi announced that the militia had disbanded, dealing the final blow to aspirations of its supporters, as well as other Kurds, for autonomy. Mr Abdi said the integration of SDF fighters into the regular Syrian security forces had been completed.
“Abdi refused to realise that the political game was over until the last minute,” said a Syrian political figure connected with the SDF and the US administration. “The Americans kept signalling to him, even before Assad was removed, that the SDF will have to submit eventually to Damascus.”
Changing US policy
In the last two years of Bashar Al Assad's presidency, the US administration of Joe Biden sought but failed to find an accommodation with the regime, after holding several meetings with its representatives.
In December 2024, militants led by now-President Al Shara toppled Mr Al Assad and soon changed direction by becoming friendly with the US. Mr Al Shara pledged a united Syria and equal citizenship, meaning the rights of the myriad minorities in the country would not be undermined by the Sunni order.
However, at least 1,400 civilians were killed in early 2025 in a government forces' campaign in the Alawite coastal heartland to defeat what authorities called an insurgency. Days later, the SDF integration deal was signed by Mr Al Shara and Mr Abdi in Damascus.
Mr Abdi was on a plane when he first approved the deal, the Syrian politician said. “They wanted to save Al Shara because the killings were undermining him internationally and they were already starting to abandon the SDF.”
Other than stipulating the merger of SDF personnel into the security forces, the deal was vague and did not address the main SDF demand for federalism that could have created a Kurdish-ruled area similar to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan regional in northern Iraq.
Two months later, US President Donald Trump met Mr Al Shara in Riyadh and announced his intention to lift US sanctions on Syria in another boost for the new order.
Stalling tactics
However, in July last year, the government launched a campaign to seize control over the mostly Druze governorate of Sweida in southern Syria. Hundreds of civilians, mostly Druze, were killed, reinstating fear among minorities. The killings revived Kurdish demands for autonomy, even outside the SDF support base.
The politician said Mr Abdi thought the SDF could benefit from Mr Al Shara's missteps in Sweida to sow doubt in American circles about allowing Damascus to take over Kurdish areas. “The Americans pushed again to make the integration happen and when they saw that Abdi was still resisting, they allowed Al Shara to send his troops into the east,” he said.
The SDF retreated to Kurdish areas in the north-east, relinquishing most of its vast territorial acquisitions in the ancient Euphrates Valley. The area accounts for most of Syria’s oil, gas, commodities and power production, although most of these areas are Arab-majority.
The SDF is an amalgamation of mostly Kurdish militias created in eastern Syria in 2015 as the ground component of the war against ISIS. It positioned itself as a protector of the Kurds during Syria's 2011 to 2024 civil war, although not all Kurds supported the SDF.
It is not clear how many of the several tens of thousands of SDF members are now in the regular security forces. Many personnel defected or left the group after a government military sweep that stripped the SDF of most of the territorial gains it made in eastern Syria during the civil war.
The campaign was supported by Turkey and had tacit approval from Washington. The SDF, regarded as outlaws by Ankara, did not put up a fight.
Another Syrian source said Turkey played a major role in ensuring a relatively peaceful outcome to the Kurdish question in Syria, pointing out that the SDF had maintained channels with Ankara throughout the crisis.
“There are Kurdish political parties in Turkey and [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan needs them politically,” the source said. “It would not be good if Kurds next door end up being massacred. There is also depth for Syrian Kurds in Iraq and this also helped assure Abdi about the future of his people.”
The source said the “Turkish model” is being implemented in Syria, with regard to the Kurds, expecting the government to allow them to exist as a distinct society, and if Syria becomes a parliamentary system, they could form their own parties.
