Syria’s president appoints ex-commander of Kurdish-led SDF as advisor

What the report says

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has appointed Mazloum Abdi, the former commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, as a presidential adviser, according to Al Jazeera’s report citing the Syrian state news agency SANA. The appointment was made by decree on Thursday, three days after Abdi said the SDF had been dissolved and merged into Syria’s military structure.

The report says Abdi is the most senior Kurdish figure to receive a state post in this period, and it notes that another Kurdish commander was previously named assistant defence minister for the eastern region. The advisory role is described as a more limited position than the one al-Sharaa had reportedly proposed earlier this year, when he suggested Abdi could become deputy defence minister and governor of Hasakah province.

Al Jazeera says the appointment follows months of negotiations between Damascus and the SDF, which began with an integration agreement in March 2025 and later stalled. The article adds that fighting in the northeast earlier this year was followed by a ceasefire and a plan to place Raqqa, Deir Az Zor and Hasakah under central government control. As background, the SDF had been the largest armed force outside Syria’s army, so its dissolution marks a major step in Damascus’ effort to consolidate authority after Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December 2024.