Mixed emotions in northeast Syria as SDF dissolves into state forces

In the streets of Qamishli, Syria's northeastern Kurdish heartland, the announcement that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had been officially dissolved was met with a complex blend of hope, grief, and guarded trust.

General Mazloum Abdi, the SDF commander, confirmed the group's formal end this week, marking the conclusion of a chapter in which the Kurdish-led force controlled roughly a quarter of Syrian territory. Its fighters are now being folded into the national military, while the civilian institutions it once ran are being transferred to state control.

For some residents, the transition represents a new beginning. Eva Sheikh Mousa, from the nearby town of Amuda, said the change is about securing rights, not preserving a particular organisation. "Whoever secures the rights of the Kurds — the right to speak our language, to work our farms freely, to have political rights and to be active in the new Syria — that is what we are looking for," she said. "It is not that the SDF is gone and so the Kurds are gone too."

Others are struggling with the loss of a force that became a symbol of Kurdish resistance. Jwan Mohammed, displaced from Afrin in 2018, said he supports integration but cannot accept the erasure of the SDF's name. "They made great sacrifices and fought against Daesh," he said. "Now they say the name no longer exists. It is too much, and it is hard."

Civil society activist Mohammed al Mohammed voiced confidence in General Abdi, who led the years-long battle against the Islamic State. "Our trust is that the general and his team will work for the interest of the Kurdish people and secure our rights," he said. "Basic rights — to speak our language, to live on our land, to manage it ourselves, and not to be assaulted as Kurds as happened under Assad's regime."

Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has promised Kurdish language education rights, a key demand for a community long marginalised under the Assad dynasty. But suspicion lingers, particularly given past clashes between SDF forces and Turkish-backed insurgent groups now aligned with Damascus.

The integration has also brought economic strain. Residents of the formerly autonomous zone have faced price increases since the central government removed fuel subsidies, and protests over living conditions have erupted in recent months.

For many, the moment is bittersweet: a chance for recognition within a unified Syria, but at the cost of the autonomous experiment they built over a decade of conflict.