How The Kurdish-Led SDF Could Hugely Improve Syria’s New Army

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have combated the Islamic State group, commonly known by its ISIS acronym, in Syria for well over a decade with U.S. backing. Today, almost a year after his militia drove former President Bashar al-Assad into exile, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa wants this multi-ethnic fighting force to integrate into the country’s new national army. Experts anticipate that a smooth integration, by no means guaranteed by the ongoing negotiations, would greatly benefit the Syrian military, giving it new capabilities, far greater professionalism, and badly needed manpower.

The SDF handed over pro-government fighters it had detained during recent clashes early last week and received a delegation from Damascus in the city of Raqqa, the former capital of the self-styled ISIS caliphate. The SDF described the handover as a goodwill gesture following recent skirmishes with pro-government forces, renewing hopes that a peaceful integration remains within reach despite continued delays and recent setbacks.

“These are positive gestures by the SDF to show it is serious about fair and meaningful integration,” Mohammed A. Salih, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told me.

“From the perspective of the SDF and Syrian Kurds generally, some of the views about ‘integration’ coming from Damascus and Ankara are closer to ‘surrender,’ which they are determined to resist,” Salih said.

“Sharaa has already allowed other former opposition formations to integrate as whole blocs and should, in the interest of consistency, fairness, and good-faith negotiation, extend the same option to the SDF.”

SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi met with Sharaa on March 10 and signed a deal pledging to integrate his forces into the military by the end of this year. However, that process has faced repeated delays, with the two sides disagreeing over the fundamental integration process and, more broadly, the future of Syrian governance.

Sharaa insists on a centralized state, while the Kurds advocate a decentralized and secular one that respects Syria’s numerous ethnic and religious minorities. Furthermore, the SDF insists that its troops integrate into the broader Syrian military in three distinct units, while Sharaa has insisted they enlist as individuals.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg, a freelance journalist and analyst specializing in Kurdish affairs and co-author of the authoritative 2021 book Accidental Allies: The U.S.–Syrian Democratic Forces Partnership Against the Islamic State, noted that recent discussions between Damascus and the SDF focused on military integration.

“There have been rumors also that the SDF have been offered positions in the Syrian Defense Ministry,” Wilgenburg told me. “So, it’s possible to integrate the SDF and also the internal security forces, also known as Asayish, into the general security force.”

“But the issue is that Damascus wants to integrate them on the brigade, division, or corps level,” he said. “Although the SDF doesn’t have a traditional military structure, as explained in my book they have a different structure, they have also been moving more towards military formations based on a traditional military structure.”

Wilgenburg believes it is possible to integrate the SDF into the new Syrian army using the group’s existing regional divisions in the northeast and eastern regions the group currently controls, which cover approximately one-third of Syria’s territory.

“Until now, there haven’t been a lot of signs of concessions, but there have been claims of positive talks,” he said. “A sign of that was in Tabqa, where there was a meeting and an exchange.”

“And recently the tensions have been going down. There was a blockade on Kurdish neighborhoods that has since been lifted,” he added. “But it remains to be seen if they’re going to reach the deadline at the end of this year.”

A successful integration could have enormous benefits for Damascus and the rest of Syria.

“It will certainly expand the size of the Syrian armed forces significantly,” Salih said. “But the SDF is not comparable to other units within the current Syrian military-security apparatus. It is disciplined, well-trained, and ethnically as well as religiously diverse in a way not seen elsewhere in Syria.”

In an October 10 address to the SDF’s Anti-Terrorism Units, known by the Kurdish acronym YAT, Abdi suggested this elite counter-terrorism force could operate across the entire country following integration.

“In the new Syria, in addition to the SDF’s integration into the new Syrian army, our anti-terrorism forces will also play a role,” he told them. “Their work will not be limited to northeast Syria, but will be nationwide. They will work alongside other units of the Syrian army.”

To date, the SDF has fought against ISIS in northeast and east Syria. However, ISIS still has cells in the central Homs desert where the SDF hasn’t operated before. It’s conceivable that following any successful integration, these troops could operate in such areas for the first time.

“If the integration process goes well, we might indeed see that,” Salih said. “It has already happened in Iraq, where the Peshmerga and Kurdish anti-terror units conducted joint operations with U.S. and Iraqi forces.”

“The SDF’s YAT units are elite formations in the Syrian context and are capable of carrying out similar missions across Syria — provided there is sufficient political will and proper coordination,” he added.

Another factor potentially complicating the SDF’s integration will be the role played by the all-female Women’s Protection Units, known by their Kurdish acronym YPJ, in the new military. These female fighters became renowned during the ISIS war for bravely combating the jihadists who had infamously enslaved and brutally tortured women and girls from the Yazidi minority in Iraq and Syria.

Senior YPJ commander Rohlat Afrin recently hailed the all-women force and the broader SDF as a model for Syria’s future, insisting that it presents “a democratic and inclusive model on which Syria’s future national army can be built.”

However, integrating the YPJ into Syria’s new army may prove complicated for numerous reasons.

“It’s difficult to integrate the YPJ into the new Syrian army, because it doesn’t have female units,” Wilgenburg said. “And the YPJ is like a feminist force, although it’s not very big. It could be possible if the YPJ just stays in the areas controlled by Kurds.”

“And while they do also already operate in non-Kurdish areas, in general, it would be difficult to integrate the YPJ and the Syrian National Army,” he added. “But if they keep their own semi-autonomous structure, maybe it will be easier.”

Salih also sees the YPJ’s integration as a “sticky and difficult question,” noting there are “ideological and cultural barriers” that make that group particularly distinct.

“Kurdish politics in Syria is progressive in a way that has no real equivalent elsewhere in Syria or much of the broader region when it comes to women’s roles in public life, including in the armed forces,” he said.

“So, I expect the clash between these two visions of women’s rights and place in society to continue playing out in Syria — whether regarding the YPJ or broader women-related issues.”

More broadly, Wilgenburg noted that President Sharaa has not made many concessions as he has political support from the United States, which wants his government to consolidate its authority across all of Syria. He has recently cracked down on foreign jihadist fighters, with recent clashes breaking out in the northwestern Idlib province, where Sharaa previously led the armed Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham during the civil war against Assad.

Wilgenburg also pointed to the ongoing peace process in Turkey, which could finally end the decades-long war between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party group, more commonly known by its Kurdish PKK acronym. Turkey is “following closely and with greater sensitivity” the SDF integration talks, Turkish state-run media reported on Thursday. Ankara has long charged that the main Kurdish component of that multi-ethnic fighting force, the People’s Protection Units or YPG, is inextricably tied to the PKK and launched several cross-border incursions against it during the Syrian Civil War. However, it would likely want to avoid another war against the SDF and its components for now while there is a historical opportunity to finally end the conflict with the PKK once and for all.

Furthermore, Wilgenburg pointed out that the U.S. and France also do not want to see any war between the Syrian army and the SDF, especially following the sectarian massacres perpetrated by pro-government militias against the Alawite and Druze minorities earlier this year.

“So, there might be some concessions, but I think not having everything under centralized control is a big red line for Sharaa,” he said.

“It’s still going to be a difficult discussion, and I’m not really sure if they’re going to reach the deadline of the end of the year because it’s very difficult.”