Mazloum Abdi: Kurdish Leader Advises Syria's President

Background: The SDF and Their Role

With Abdi's appointment as advisor, the Syrian transitional government apparently seeks to move the long phase of confrontation with the Kurds into one of integration. Observers interpret the step as a response to one of the most pressing questions of order and governance in the country following the fall of the Assad regime.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who views the SDF as a threat because of its ties to the Kurdish PKK Workers' Party, had repeatedly demanded the integration of the Kurdish militias into the Syrian army or their dissolution. Abdi's advisory role goes beyond mere military integration and also encompasses political consultations with the president.

Turkey as a Flashpoint

Turkey — which, together with Washington, Moscow and the Syrian transitional government, exerts influence over northeastern Syria as a guarantor power of the Astana process — is observing the appointment with great attention. In Ankara there is concern that too close an attachment of the SDF to Damascus could undermine Turkish security interests in the border area.

Abdi, for his part, had recently emphasized on several occasions that the Kurds wanted to be part of a pluralistic Syria and were betting not on separation but on a federal or decentralized solution within the Syrian state. The advisory function gives him formal access to the presidential palace without the SDF having to give up its command structure.

International observers see in the personnel decision a possible concession to Washington, which had supported its Kurdish partners in the fight against IS for years with weapons, training and logistics. The US government, which appreciates Abdi as a reliable interlocutor, had recently pushed strongly for a political solution between Damascus and the Kurds.

Signal to Washington and the Region

The appointment comes at a time when the Syrian transitional government under Ahmed al-Sharaa is simultaneously trying to recalibrate its relations with Turkey, the Gulf states and Western capitals. Many diplomats see a stable integration of the Kurds as a prerequisite for the elections announced for October 2025 to be held under international observation.

It remains unclear for now what concrete responsibilities Abdi's new advisory post encompasses. Neither the presidential office in Damascus nor the SDF headquarters in the northeastern Syrian province have so far released a detailed profile of duties.

The development is also likely to accelerate the ongoing negotiations over a possible security agreement between Damascus and the Kurds. Several mediators report talks on a gradual integration of SDF units into Syrian security structures, which would now be politically backed by Abdi's advisory role.