Mazloum Abdi Announces from Damascus the Dissolution of the SDF and the Beginning of a New Phase

ARK News.. Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), announced on Tuesday the end of the force’s mission and its dissolution as an independent military force, stressing that the move comes as part of a transition to a new phase centered on peace, stability, and civilian governance. Mazloum Abdi announces from Damascus the dissolution of the SDF and the beginning of a new phase of stability and the building of a new Syria.

Speaking at a press conference held at the People’s Palace in Damascus on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, Abdi said, "Today, we announce the end of the mission of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and we responsibly announce its dissolution as an independent military force.” He explained that the decision came following an agreement with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the completion of the process of integrating SDF forces into brigades of the Syrian army.

Abdi described the current phase as a “historic moment” in which Syria is closing an important chapter of its history and opening a new one based on peace and participation in building the state. He said SDF fighters had shouldered major responsibilities over the past years, fighting against the Syrian regime and the Islamic State (ISIS), as well as participating in the liberation of numerous Syrian cities and towns at various stages of the Syrian uprising.

Abdi said the force had lost thousands of its members in those battles, adding that their sacrifices were made in pursuit of a safer future for Syrians. He noted that circumstances have now changed and the country has entered a new phase.

Abdi stressed that dissolving the SDF as an independent military force does not mean abandoning the memory of those who lost their lives in the fighting. “Their sacrifices will remain in our collective memory,” he said, emphasizing that the goal of the next phase is to move “from battlefields to the fields of reconstruction, and from the era of weapons to the era of peace.”

In another part of his remarks, Abdi addressed the issue of education in the Kurdish language, considering the right to education in one’s mother tongue one of the key rights that Kurds in Syria have sought for decades.

He said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa had on several occasions expressed his support for safeguarding this right, pointing to an “open position” regarding the right to mother-tongue education and the possibility of developing the relevant decision in the future.

He added that work would begin this year to implement the decision concerning education in the Kurdish language, with the aim of building on it and further developing it in the future.

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