The integration of the Kurdish administration within Syria's state institutions is now complete, Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said on Thursday. The announcement follows months of negotiations between the two sides after a January agreement that called for the full integration of Kurdish civil and military institutions into the state -- a move Washington deemed "historic.” "I want to say that the phase of integrating military, security and administrative institutions into national state institutions is complete and finished," Abdi, who heads the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said at an event in Qamishli in northeastern Syria. "From now on, we begin a new phase," he added. "Our struggle will continue, to cement our people's rights in the constitution." Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa shakes hands with Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Damascus on March 10, 2025 (SANA) The January agreement, signed by Abdi and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, followed clashes between Syrian Kurdish fighters and the new authorities' forces that saw the Kurds lose swathes of territory they held in the oil-rich north and northeast. Amid the violence, al-Sharaa signed on January 16 a decree enshrining the Kurds' national rights and recognizing Kurdish as a national language. A photo showing SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi with his fighters wearing the military uniform of the Syrian Ministry of Defense as part of the integration steps last February (social media) In February, Noureddine Ahmed Eissa, a Kurd from the city of Qamishli, was appointed governor of Hasakeh. In March, senior Kurdish military official Sipan Hamo was appointed regional assistant defense minister. As part of the deal's implementation, government forces entered the cities of Hasakeh and Qamishli, and Damascus took over the management of Qamishli airport and key oil fields. US troops also transferred more than 5,700 ISIS detainees in previously Kurdish-controlled camps to neighboring Iraq.
