As SDF disband in Syria, Kurds ponder how to secure their rights

Erbil, Iraq – The merger of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the authorities forces past period has sparked a statement among galore Kurds successful Syria arsenic good arsenic successful neighbouring Iraq and Turkiye astir the aboriginal of their rights.

Though Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has promised law extortion for Kurdish connection and governmental rights, analysts question if the determination to driblet the “armed struggle” volition imperil the conflict to unafraid Kurdish rights and identity.

“We privation this time to beryllium the opening of a existent modulation from the battlefields to the fields of construction, and from the epoch of weapons to the epoch of peace,” SDF person Mazloum Abdi (also known arsenic Mazloum Kobani) said from the statesmanlike palace successful Damascus precocious past month.

Abdi said an “important page” had been turned successful Syria’s history.

While immoderate Kurdish politicians hail the integration arsenic a doorway for the Kurds to enactment successful gathering the caller Syria and to request their rights done the constitution, others see the measurement a effect of Turkish and US pressure.

Turkiye has calculated adjacent ties with the Syrian government, which came to powerfulness aft Bashar al-Assad was toppled successful December 2024, and has attacked Kurdish fighters on its borderline with Syria successful the past. Although the US helped signifier the SDF successful 2015, it threw its value down the al-Sharaa government.

The US-backed SDF, which was formed to combat the ISIL (ISIS) group, controlled Syria’s northeast, location to astir of the country’s Kurdish population, for much than a decade. But earlier this year, the authorities forces took implicit bluish Syria successful a swift subject push. After months of talks, the SDF was disbanded, and the Kurdish-led Autonomous medication was dissolved.

Talal Mohammed, the caput of the Kurdistan Democratic Peace Party successful Syria, believes specified developments are a turning constituent successful the people of the Kurdish issue.

“This represents an accidental for the Kurds to beryllium partners successful gathering a antiauthoritarian Syria,” Muhammad told Al Jazeera. “We already had a self-administration, a subject force, but we did not person immoderate planetary oregon determination recognition,” helium said.

“The coming signifier requires uniting the Kurdish ranks and moving to attain each our rights … successful the caller constitution,” helium said.

A antheral holds a emblem with an representation of jailed Kurdish person Abdullah Ocalan arsenic radical stitchery to observe outpouring festival of Newroz successful the southeastern municipality of Kiziltepe successful Mardin province, Turkiye, March 18, 2025 [Umit Bektas/Reuters]

But Mohammad warns that Turkiye is pushing to extremity the contented of equipped Kurdish groups.

Turkiye considers the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which led a decades-long equipped rebellion, and its affiliates successful Syria, Iraq and Iran arsenic “terrorist” groups. Ankara impeach them of launching attacks to destabilise the portion done separatist violence.

The PKK decided to dissolve successful May 2025 and extremity the equipped conflict. The determination came months aft jailed PKK person Abdullah Ocalan urged the radical to laic down its arms successful a bid to extremity the conflict, which has killed thousands. Turkish authorities welcomed the move.

Ankara views the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which led the SDF, arsenic a “terrorist” radical and an limb of the PKK wrong Syria.

Mohammad explains that the PKK is the astir important Kurdish radical successful the full region, and it affects the record of the Kurds successful Syria. “Ending the SDF and the PKK was a Turkish imagination and a large Turkish project,” helium said.

No guarantees

Other Kurdish politicians suggest that the bid inaugural successful Turkiye and the SDF’s integration successful Syria volition empower the Kurds and support their rights.

Perwin Yousef, the co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a subdivision of the PKK successful Syria, rejects that the integration is simply a setback.

“We did not consciousness immoderate disappointment, and our task continues, and we volition proceed to enactment to get each our rights done governmental understandings and agreements wrong the caller Syrian constitution, and our conflict volition continue,” Yousef told Al Jazeera.

But she besides acknowledges that determination are nary guarantees truthful acold for the national, political, and taste rights of the Kurds. These issues, Yousef says, could derail immoderate agreement.

“There are nary guarantees for the Kurds truthful acold … we privation to warrant taste rights and designation of the Kurdish connection arsenic an authoritative language, successful summation to the governmental rights of the Kurdish people, and to beryllium partners successful decision-making wrong the Syrian state,” she said.

Iraqi Kurdish radical holding Kurdish flags observe Newroz Day, a festival marking the archetypal time of outpouring and the caller twelvemonth successful the municipality of Akra adjacent Duhok, successful the Kurdish portion of bluish Iraq [File: Ari Jalal/Reuters]

The Kurds are an taste radical of radical Indigenous to the Mesopotamian plains and adjacent highlands, which contiguous agelong crossed southeastern Turkiye, northeastern Syria, bluish Iraq, northwestern Iran and southwestern Armenia. The Kurdish colonisation is concentrated successful these areas, wherever the Kurdish groups person aspired to found an autarkic Kurdish state.

“The Kurds person agelong talked of reuniting their radical successful a greater Kurdistan,” Joost Hiltermann, a peculiar advisor to the International Crisis Group, wrote successful a paper backmost successful 2016.

“These antithetic nationalist populations person discovered implicit clip that what sets them isolated whitethorn beryllium much important than what they person successful common: differences successful dialect, tribal affiliation, leadership, ideology, humanities experience,” helium wrote.

Kurdish world Sarbast Nabi, a prof of governmental doctrine astatine Koya University successful the semiautonomous Kurdish portion of bluish Iraq, believes the latest deals betwixt the PKK and the SDF with Turkish and Syrian governments volition hinder Kurdish aspirations.

“The SDF recovered itself compelled to instrumentality this decision, which is simply a determination taxable to the Turkish will, due to the fact that Turkiye holds Abdullah Ocalan,” Nebi explained. “Therefore, this determination is neither Syrian nor Kurdish, but alternatively it is an look of a Turkish will,” helium said.

“What happened successful Syria serves Turkish nationalist information … it worked to marginalise the Kurdish issue, amid perceptions wrong the Trump medication of winning Turkiye to its side,” helium argues.

”The Kurdish contented became a unfortunate of the unit exerted by the Turkish lobby, portion the Kurds successful Syria became a instrumentality successful the hands of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party … At present, determination are nary autarkic discourses for the Kurds successful immoderate portion of Kurdistan,” helium said, referring to the Kurdish portion straddling Syria, Iraq, Turkiye and Iran.

A forced choice?

Many Kurds reason that determination and planetary powers person their ain nationalist interests and schemes, and they person utilized the Kurds for their ain docket and dumped them erstwhile their geopolitical inferior was over.

Muhammad Amin Penjweny, an adept connected the governmental affairs of the PKK and Turkish politics, argues that Kurdish groups request to beryllium pragmatic aft the diminution of Western support, particularly aft the autumn of al-Assad’s government.

“What the SDF did done integration with the Syrian forces is not a failure, but alternatively a victory, due to the fact that it had nary different solution aft the withdrawal of American and French forces … leaving it unsocial without subject oregon governmental extortion successful the look of Turkiye and Syria,” helium explained.

A idiosyncratic wrapped successful a Kurdish emblem takes portion successful a objection of Syrian Kurds, to request their rights successful the Syrian constitution and successful enactment of Kurdish unity, successful Qamishli, Syria connected February 1, 2026 [Orhan Qereman/Reuters]

“It is existent that the SDF was a ample subject unit against ISIS, with American assistance, but aft the autumn of al-Assad the equation changed,” helium said, adding that the Kurds had ”no different option” but to integrate into the Syrian army.

Despite the fanfare and what appears to beryllium a ”success”, mistrust and scepticism wrong Kurdish circles stay high, and the destiny of Ocalan could beryllium a decisive factor.

PKK leaders person warned from their stronghold successful the mountainous portion of bluish Iraq to halt the bid process with Turkiye unless antiauthoritarian reforms are implemented.

“As a motion of goodwill, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party burned its weapons, but the enactment volition not manus implicit its weapons until aft the merchandise of Abdullah Ocalan and his comrades held successful Turkish prisons,” Penjweny said.

“The Kurdish imagination of establishing a Kurdish authorities inactive stands. There is an American, French, and British presumption that holds that the Treaty of Lausanne, concluded successful the past century, did not pb to stableness successful the region,” helium said, adding that the Kurds were a unfortunate of this pact implicit the past 100 years. The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, signed by Turkiye and allied powers, divided the Kurdish areas crossed 4 antithetic countries.

Sentiments crossed Kurdish populations successful Syria, Iraq and Turkiye disagree owed to aggregate factors. In Iraq, Kurds bask the astir rights successful the region, wherever their rights are protected by the constitution established aft the US-led penetration and the toppling of President Saddam Hussein successful 2003. The Kurdistan Regional Government is the authoritative ruling assemblage successful the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

”What was achieved by Syrian Kurds is amended than what they had nether Assad. For Iraq, independency oregon the instauration of a Kurdish authorities is acold fetched due to the fact that Kurdish semi-autonomous portion is ineligible and recognised by the constitution,” said Soran Ali, a Kurdish writer based successful Iraq.

But immoderate Kurds successful Turkiye person a precise pessimistic outlook astir the aboriginal of the community.

“The Kurdish imagination is gone due to the fact that of the SDF, PKK, Iraq and Iran,” Ahmed Kani, a nationalist Kurdish researcher successful Turkiye, told Al Jazeera.

”As agelong arsenic Turkiye is simply a beardown state, the Kurds successful the 4 parts of Kurdistan volition not beryllium capable to execute their imagination of statehood,” helium told Al Jazeera.

Iraqi Kurdish radical holding a Kurdish emblem observe Newroz Day, a festival marking the archetypal time of outpouring and the caller year, successful the municipality of Akra successful the Kurdish portion of bluish Iraq, Duhok, Iraq [Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters]