Syria’s President appoints Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi as his adviser

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa appointed Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi as a Presidential adviser, state media said on Friday (August 28, 2026), days after Abdi announced the dissolution of his Kurdish forces under an integration deal with Damascus.

The Education Ministry also published a decision authorising Kurdish-language instruction in public and private schools.

“Mustafa Khalil Abdi is appointed as adviser to the presidency of the republic,” announced the decree, signed by Sharaa and published by state news agency SANA.

Mr. Abdi, who has been known by several different names, was for years the leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Washington-backed group at the forefront of the battle against the Islamic State jihadist group.

On Tuesday (August 25), he announced the SDF’s dissolution, part of a deal he made with Sharaa in January to integrate the Kurds’ forces and civilian administration into the state.

Syria’s new Islamist authorities who toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 have been seeking to extend state control across the whole country.

The integration deal was a major victory for Sharaa but brought an end to long-held Kurdish hopes for official autonomy.

U.S. special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said on Tuesday (August 25) that “this is what real integration looks like… former counterparts with differing points of view crafting a diplomatic solution to strengthen the sovereign nation of Syria”.

“Securing substantive roles for our valued partners”, including Mr. Abdi within the government “, pays due respect to their leadership, the sacrifices of our Kurdish partners, and the constructive contribution they have made to regional stability”, Mr. Barrack added, without indicating what role Mr. Abdi would have.

Mr. Abdi said on Tuesday (August 25) that the SDF’s dissolution followed “the completion of the process of integrating our forces into the brigades of the Syrian army”.

The SDF was formed in 2015 at the instigation of the United States, which was impressed by the Kurdish fighters who had defeated IS in Kobane in the north and was seeking a reliable partner in the ongoing battle against the jihadists.

It was the de facto army of the semi-autonomous administration which the Kurds set up in north and northeast Syria after seizing territory battling IS during Syria’s Civil War.

But Mr. Abdi signed up to the integration deal following clashes this January in which the Kurds lost swathes of territory to government troops, and as the Kurds’ longtime backer Washington drew close to the new authorities in Damascus.

‘Struggle will continue’

During the violence, Sharaa signed a decree enshrining the Kurds’ national rights and recognising Kurdish as a national language — an unprecedented step since Syria’s independence in 1946.

On Thursday (August 27) evening, the Education Ministry issued a decision authorising Kurdish-language classes in both public and private schools in areas where “Kurdish citizens make up a significant percentage of the population”, alongside Arabic and English.

Last week, Mr. Abdi announced that the integration of the Kurdish administration with the Syrian state was complete, adding: “Our struggle will continue to cement our people’s rights in the constitution.”

The Kurds, who have historically complained of discrimination in Syria, are estimated to number around 2 million in the country, out of a population of 20 million.

They are concentrated primarily in northeastern Syria but are also present in Damascus and Aleppo.