Syria: Commander of Kurdish-led SDF rejects disarmament, calls for negotiated integration into army

Damascus, Jan 19 The top commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said his fighters do not intend to surrender their weapons or dissolve their ranks but are willing to negotiate their incorporation into Syria's future military structure.

In an interview with Al Arabiya on Saturday, Mazloum Abdi warned that any approach other than a joint agreement would "lead to major problems."

"We haven't decided to give up our arms or disband," Abdi said, noting that the SDF is open to talks about forming "a single national army."

He added that the SDF proposed creating a joint military committee to study the issue and emphasised his opposition to "two separate armies in Syria."

Abdi remarked that SDF representatives were not invited to discussions led by Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa regarding the integration of various factions into Syria's new Defense Ministry, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The outcome of those meetings does not concern us because we were not part of them," he stated, underscoring that the SDF's relationship with al-Sharaa "depends on actions, not words."

Refuting rumours that Iran has supplied the SDF with weaponry, Abdi dismissed the need for Iranian arms, including drones, and underlined that US forces remain important mediators. "We value the presence of American troops in Syria to help narrow differences in viewpoints," he said.

The SDF, bolstered by US support and dominated by Kurdish units, controls extensive areas in northern and eastern Syria.

An SDF delegation met with al-Sharaa in Damascus on December 30 for the first time since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's government on December 8, 2024.

Amid the surprise advance led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forces into Damascus in early December, Turkish-backed factions launched an offensive against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, forcing the SDF to withdraw from certain areas.

Turkiye views the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which forms the core of the SDF, as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

No immediate comment was available from the new Syrian administration regarding Abdi's statements, though officials have previously expressed a desire to incorporate all factions into a unified national force.