ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), announced on Thursday that the force's integration into the Syrian army has been fully completed, marking the beginning of a "new phase." He also said non-Syrian Kurdish fighters who had come to support the SDF have now left Syria.
“Today, on this occasion, I would like to say that this process of integrating our military, security and administrative institutions into the institutions of the state structures has ended and has been fully completed. Today, a new phase begins for us,” Abdi said during a speech at an event in Qamishli celebrating the 100th anniversary of the city’s founding.
Abdi and several other Kurdish officials attended the event wearing traditional Kurdish attire. Ahmed al-Hilali, a member of the Syrian presidential team overseeing the integration process, was also present and sat next to Abdi.
The SDF and Damascus signed an agreement on January 29 to integrate Rojava’s civilian, security and military institutions into Syrian state structures following weeks of clashes. The deal was mediated by the United States and France and endorsed by Turkey.
Several brigades have since been formed for SDF fighters who joined the Syrian army, with former SDF commanders leading them. Damascus has also appointed a former SDF commander as deputy defense minister for the eastern region.
Abdi also said Kurdish fighters who had arrived in northeast Syria (Rojava) from Kurdish regions in Iraq, Iran and Turkey to help defend the Kurdish enclave against attacks, including those by the Islamic State, have now left Syria.
"On our call, our brothers from the other parts of Kurdistan came to help us. Thousands of boys and girls of Kurds stood alongside the SDF and protected this region,” he said.
He thanked them and announced that the "forces who helped us have now withdrawn from this region following a call and plan from us."
The presence of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in Syria has long been a point of concern for Turkey. PKK-linked fighters played a key role in the early years of the Kurdish-led administration in Rojava and in the fight against the Islamic State.
Turkey has fought the PKK for more than four decades and has repeatedly demanded that fighters affiliated with the group leave Syria.
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