Kurdish-led SDF signals major shift toward rejoining Syrian military

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are open to unifying with the Syrian army under a centralized command structure overseen by the new authorities in Damascus, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi said.

“We are committed to the agreement [with the new Syrian authorities] of March 10, but its implementation will take time,” Abdi stated, signaling a willingness to integrate the SDF’s forces into a national military framework, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

He underscored that the SDF “agrees with the central government on the issue of Syria's unity with a single army and a single flag.”

According to Abdi, the integration of SDF fighters into the official Syrian military is a complex and large-scale process. “The integration of 100,000 armed fighters [from the SDF] into the ranks of the Syrian Ministry of Defence is a large-scale operation,” he noted. “There will be not two armies, but one,” he said, describing the envisioned result as a “centralized armed force.”

While the SDF has previously maintained autonomous control in northeastern Syria, Abdi emphasized that the group shares with Damascus a commitment to national unity. “Syria must be united,” he said, while clarifying that “decentralization does not mean the division of the country.”

He also acknowledged progress in negotiations with Damascus on cultural and linguistic rights for Kurds in the region. “The new government has announced its readiness to agree to our demands regarding the Kurdish language and Kurdish cultural traditions,” Abdi said, suggesting a potential compromise that preserves Kurdish identity within a unified Syrian state.

By Vafa Guliyeva