Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has named Mazloum Abdi, the former leader of the dissolved Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a presidential advisor.
According to the Syrian state news agency Sana, al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 164 on Thursday, officially designating Abdi as an advisor to the Presidency of the Republic.
This appointment follows just three days after Abdi announced the dissolution of the SDF and finalized its integration into the Syrian military.
Abdi is the most senior Kurdish figure appointed to a state post, though another commander was recently named assistant defence minister for the eastern region.
While significant, this advisory role is a downgrade from the position offered in January, when al-Sharaa proposed making Abdi deputy defence minister and governor of Hasakah province to restore state control over the SDF-held capital.
Al-Sharaa and Abdi initially agreed to integrate the SDF into the central government in March 2025, but the deal stalled before its year-end deadline. This prompted state forces to advance into the northeast in January, seizing Raqqa and Deir Az Zor from the SDF.
A subsequent ceasefire ended the conflict and placed Raqqa, Deir Az Zor, and Hasakah under central government control, committing the SDF to join the defence and interior ministries under a 14-point plan.
One Kurdish-led force remains unabsorbed. The YPJ, the SDF’s women’s units, requested integration into the defence ministry but were informed that the army lacks structural units for women.
Alongside the military integration, al-Sharaa issued a decree in January recognising Kurdish as a national language and restoring citizenship to Syria’s Kurdish population, marking the first formal recognition of Kurdish rights since independence in 1946.
As the largest force remaining outside the army, the SDF’s dissolution grants Damascus formal authority over nearly all Syrian territory. Reunifying the nation has been al-Sharaa’s central promise since the overthrow of former leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
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