Kadar Piri: SDF announcement marks major shift for Kurdish Issue

On Aug. 25, SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi announced from the People’s Palace in Damascus that the force had ended its role as an independent military force after completing its integration into army brigades.

Abdi said Syria had entered a new phase centered on peace and participation in building a new Syria, describing the transition as moving “from battlefields to construction sites, and from the era of weapons to the era of peace.” He also focused on the future of Kurds in the country.

Assessing the impact of the announcement on Kurds and the Kurdish issue in Syria, Kadar Piri said recent developments related to the integration process came amid broader changes across the Middle East.

He said the Kurdish issue was not separate from these developments but was at their center and linked to developments in other parts of Kurdistan.

From Security File to Political and Constitutional Issue

Asked whether the Kurdish issue had effectively shifted from a security and military file to a political and constitutional one, Piri said Kurds “have been demanding since the beginning of the Syrian uprising, and even before that, that their issue be transformed from a security issue into a political and constitutional one.”

He said Syria’s former Baathist government had worked to “contain the Kurdish issue and frame it as a security matter,” adding that developments in Syria since the start of the uprising had changed the nature of the issue, taking it beyond the security framework toward one centered on “the people, land and rights.”

He said this shift had begun to be reflected in recent agreements, particularly the Jan. 29 agreement, as well as Presidential Decree No. 13. The current phase, he added, provides an opportunity to reassert Kurdish rights and enshrine them within Syria’s constitutional framework.

Political Tools for the New Phase

On whether Kurds have sufficient political tools to manage the new phase, Piri said they “possess them strongly,” arguing that the international community had come to recognize the importance of the “Kurdish card.”

He described the current phase as a new stage in the struggle of the Kurdish political movement in Syria.

Piri said the existence of agreements, guarantors and observers, along with recent international positions, strengthened the prospects for a shift toward political action.

“The struggle has not stopped, but the approach and methods of work will change in order to enshrine these rights in the Syrian constitution,” he said.

He explained that the issues likely to become the focus of political struggle in the next phase include recognizing the distinct character of Kurdish-majority areas, establishing a form of local governance or decentralization, and guaranteeing education in the Kurdish language.

He stressed that demands for these rights would continue until the Kurdish people’s rights were fully achieved.

Piri: Syria Needs Partnership, Not Just Military Integration

On whether the new phase will produce a Kurdish-Syrian partnership within the state or remain limited to military integration, Piri said the “military integration process is clear,” adding that the next step should be a transition from implementing military arrangements to political and constitutional work.

He said previous understandings had envisaged the Syrian Democratic Forces remaining within a military structure and becoming part of the Syrian army. He said this aspect had been achieved through the integration process, but stressed that the issue for Kurds did not end there.

He stressed that political engagement with Damascus should aim to secure the rights of the Kurdish people while addressing the issues of other Syrian communities, saying Kurdish rights are “intrinsically linked” to the rights of all Syrians, from Druze and Alawites to Christians and others.

He added that the next phase requires joint efforts to reduce the degree of centralization in Syria and build a decentralized state that guarantees the distinct character of different regions and communities. He said the country’s experiences over past decades had demonstrated the need for a new political formula capable of preventing conflicts and abuses from recurring.

This view echoes remarks by US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack following Abdi’s announcement. Barrack described the integration as an opportunity to build a “lasting partnership” away from a winner-takes-all approach, stressing that the new phase should lead to a “united Syria for all.”

“No Separation” Between National Rights and Building a Democratic Syria

Asked how Kurdish parties should engage with Damascus in the next phase, and whether they should focus on demanding clear national rights or present themselves as partners in building a democratic Syrian state, Piri said he “sees no separation” between the two tracks.

He explained that demanding national rights for Kurds does not conflict with calls for a democratic, decentralized, secular and pluralistic Syrian state. Rather, he said, these demands are “interconnected.”

He stressed that insisting on enshrining the national rights of the Kurdish people, as a people living on their own land and within their own geography, should form part of a project to build a democratic and pluralistic Syria.

He called for cooperation with Syria’s various communities to enshrine these principles in the constitution, potentially through “supra-constitutional” provisions that would prevent them from being rolled back in the future.

The proposal comes as SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi said in his Aug. 25 announcement that moving into a phase of reconstruction did not mean closing political issues related to the Kurds, but would proceed alongside discussions on political participation, cultural rights and education in the Kurdish language.

Abdi also said Syrian transitional government Prime Minister Ahmed al-Sharaa had expressed an open position on the right to education in one’s mother tongue, describing it as one of the issues that would be addressed and implemented in the next phase.

According to Piri, the end of the SDF’s independent military role does not mean the end of the Kurdish political struggle. Rather, it represents a shift toward new tools of political action, centered primarily on constitutionally securing Kurdish rights, consolidating decentralization and participating in building a democratic Syrian state that accommodates all its communities.

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ANHA