Turkey<\/a> claimed that the SDF sent civilians to conflict-ridden areas as human shields. It accused the SDF of using \u201cviolence and terror\u201d to pursue \u201cits own separatist agenda.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nOn November 30, 2024, the SNA announced Operation Dawn of Freedom, aiming to expand Turkish-controlled territory, weaken the SDF, prevent Kurdish autonomy in post-Assad Syria, and support the Turkish initiative to establish a 30-km.-deep buffer zone in the north from al-Bab to Tel-Rifaat.<\/p>\n
Around 100,000 Kurdish civilians fled SNA-occupied territories throughout Aleppo governorate, which resulted in a humanitarian crisis. The remaining SDF-controlled towns in the northern Aleppo countryside were besieged and cut off from communication.<\/p>\n
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), more than 200,000 Syrian Kurds were driven from al-Shahbaa and other parts of Aleppo. Turkish airstrikes supported the SNA offensive, targeting SDF positions in Aleppo, Al-Hasakah, and Mambij.<\/p>\n
On December 6, 2024, the SNA launched an offensive targeting the city of Manbej, the last SDF-controlled area west of the Euphrates. Residents of Manbej and Kobani were deprived of water and electricity. Civilians in Shehba experienced robbery and extortion from SNA forces.<\/p>\n
According to SOHR, tens of wounded combatants were extrajudicially executed by Turkish-backed forces. In April 2025, Kurdish forces withdrew to the eastern bank of the Euphrates River while government security forces deployed to the Tishrin Dam to establish a barrier between SDF and SNA forces.<\/p>\n
About 40,000 ISIS family members and up to 10,000 jihadist fighters were held in SDF-controlled camps and prisons in the northeast. SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi indicated, \u201cIf Turkey attacks, we will have no choice but to redirect our forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chaos accompanied the SDF\u2019s withdrawal from al-Hol camp, with ISIS exploiting the disorder resulting from the transition. A security vacuum resulted as ISIS declared a \u201cnew phase\u201d against Syria\u2019s authorities. ISIS branded the government and its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa as \u201capostates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arab tribal forces sympathetic to Damascus rose up in Raqqa, Aleppo, and Hasaka. They accused the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) of abusing Arab rights in education and local administration.<\/p>\n
When the SNA attacked on January 4, 2026, 15 years of self-rule ended in a fortnight. In an attempt to appease Syria\u2019s Kurdish community, Sharaa issued a decree recognizing Kurdish identity and language rights, restoring citizenship to Kurds stripped of nationality, and declaring Nowruz a national holiday on January 16.<\/p>\n
It led to an integration agreement on January 30 combining a permanent ceasefire with a phased plan to fold the northeast\u2019s military and civilian institutions into the state.<\/p>\n
These measures represented Syria\u2019s first formal recognition of Kurdish national rights since its independence in 1946. The announcement read, \u201cThe Syrian Ministry of Local Governance is granting significant authority to governors, including the hiring and firing of employees, approving investments and deals. The decision is the outcome of negotiations with the SDF, which requested greater decentralization.\u201d<\/p>\n
The northeast is vital to Syria. It holds Syria\u2019s most consequential oil and gas resources, grain-producing land, and key cross-border routes.<\/p>\n
The agreement was supported by the Trump administration\u2019s envoy, Tom Barrack. Kurds felt betrayed when the US withdrew its support. Without US assistance, the SDF could not continue as an autonomous project.<\/p>\n
Beginning in January 2026, the AANES lost 70% of its territory and at least 1,000 fighters. Many Kurds were displaced, and other minorities were left vulnerable. The US withdrew its support in December 2025.<\/p>\n
Without US air power and weapons, the SDF was overwhelmed by jihadis working with the Syrian Armed Forces. On January 29, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi and Syria\u2019s interim President Sharaa signed an integration agreement.<\/p>\n
It requires the SDF to integrate into all of Syria\u2019s security and civilian structures. The SDF cannot rely on Damascus\u2019s goodwill. A US-led monitoring mechanism is needed to ensure compliance with these commitments. The US may also consider a fund for disarmament. demobilization, and reintegration benefiting Kurds and other minorities, such as Druze and Alawites, who were victims of state-sponsored violence.<\/p>\n
Kurds must adjust to the reality of an emboldened Turkey<\/p>\n
Defeat is a lesson in humility. The Kurds are not going to give up their way of life, but they must adjust to the new reality of an emboldened Turkey and an Islamist Syria. Kurdish self-criticism includes a critique of political philosopher Murray Bookchin\u2019s theories, which served as the ideological basis for the PKK and the Rojava revolution.<\/p>\n
Bookchin espoused libertarian principles and values of equality, freedom, and sustainability. He envisioned a society linked through highly decentralized self-governing institutions, with power distributed to entities at the local level.<\/p>\n
Kurds in Rojava envisioned a system of self-government based on Bookchin\u2019s ideas, which emphasized decentralization, ecological justice, and gender parity in local administration. In March 2005, founding PKK member Abdullah \u00d6calan issued the \u201cDeclaration of Democratic Confederalism in Kurdistan,\u201d which called for grassroots \u201cdemocracy without the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tribal elites announced the creation of the \u201cCouncil for Cooperation and Coordination in Jazira and the Euphrates\u201d in April, aimed at unifying tribal voices against what they called the SDF \u201chegemony.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bookchin\u2019s romantic ideals had broad appeal to \u00d6calan, the PKK, and the SDF. However, the Rojava revolution proved impractical and premature. The demise of the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria marked the end of the democratic confederation, or at least a delay in its realization.<\/p>\n
Society in the Middle East has not yet evolved to embrace decentralization and grassroots democracy. For Arabs and Turks, federalism is a bridge too far.<\/p>\n
Kurds have suffered betrayal and abuse from the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne to the present. Their national aspirations have repeatedly been denied and their identity suppressed. While Kurds would prefer to exercise their right to self-determination, this is not possible under the current conditions. Instead, they are forced to seek a modus vivendi with Damascus and accommodation with their Arab neighbors in Syria.<\/p>\n
The January 29 agreement between Sharaa<\/a> and the SDF\u2019s Abdi should be closely monitored by evaluating its 14 points. This can be carried out by the Kurds themselves in cooperation with representatives of the international community who are sympathetic to their cause. The evaluation process could take place over six months, with final and periodic reports.<\/p>\nDamascus is already dragging its feet in fulfilling its obligations, so without continuous evaluation and implementation reviews, the Kurds may find their interests betrayed again. The United States does not appear inclined to fully support Kurdish goals, meaning the Kurds will need to organize an implementation and review mechanism on their own, in consultation with civil society and international NGOs.<\/p>\n
The writer is an Academic Visitor at Oxford University\u2019s St. Antony\u2019s College. He previously served as a senior official at the UN and the State Department during the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kurds have suffered a century of betrayal and abuse. Sheikh Said launched the Kurdish resistance movement against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[672,3927,279,277,49,2559,95,2507,1176],"class_list":["post-123241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-syria","tag-ahmed-al-sharaa","tag-aleppo","tag-islamic-state","tag-kurds","tag-middle-east","tag-rojava-kurdistan","tag-syria","tag-syrian-democratic-forces","tag-turkey"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116607572039436752","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"PEOPLE](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/701251.jpeg\"\/)
PEOPLE CELEBRATE in Sheikh Maksoud neighbourhood following the collapse of an agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Aleppo, Syria, January 10, 2026. (credit: REUTERS\/KHALIL ASHAWI)<\/p>\n