Explainer

SDF chief Kobane’s Damascus visit a high wire act for Syria’s Kurds

The SDF says its integration with Damascus is complete, but major questions remain over its fighters, weapons and the future of Kurdish self-rule.

Amberin Zaman

Aug 24, 2026

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The commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Kobane, arrived in Damascus on Monday for talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and other officials, according to SDF officials and well-placed sources.

It remains unclear whether Kobane will meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whom he last met on Aug. 4 in Damascus. He is accompanied by the SDF’s top official for foreign affairs, Ilham Ahmed.

Why it matters: The visit comes on the heels of Kobane’s Aug. 20 announcement that the process of integrating the Kurdish-led autonomous entity’s security, military and administrative institutions with the central government was “complete and finished” and that a “new phase” had started. He stopped short, however, of declaring the SDF’s dissolution, which is among the key demands of Damascus and Ankara.

Kobane made the comments during a raucous event to mark the centenary of Qamishli, the autonomous Kurdish administration’s informal capital, which rapidly........

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