Self-proclaimed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has appointed Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi as a presidential advisor, following the dissolution of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in an integration deal with Damascus earlier this week.
"President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 164 of 2026 on Thursday, appointing Mustafa Khalil Abdi, known as Mazloum Abdi, as an advisor to the Presidency of the Republic," state media SANA reported on 27 August.
Abdi headed the SDF, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that was created with US support in 2015 as part of the war to topple the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.
The SDF took control of large swathes of northeast Syria from ISIS, including the country's main oil fields, as part of Washington's efforts to keep Syria divided and prevent reconstruction by Assad's government.
Abdi and the SDF created an autonomous region that also included Sunni Arab majority areas taken from ISIS. However, when Sharaa – a former Al-Qaeda leader – took power in Damascus in December 2024 with the help of the US, Turkey, and Israel, the SDF's usefulness to Washington was diminished.
Sharaa's extremist-led Syrian army defeated the SDF in January 2026 after weeks of clashes, bringing Kurdish autonomy to an end. Abdi announced the dissolution of the SDF on Tuesday as part of a deal to int
