Syrian President Appoints Former SDF Commander as Adviser

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa appointed Mazloum Abdi, the former commander of the now-dissolved Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, as a presidential adviser on Friday, cementing a major political shift following the group's integration into state institutions. The appointment, announced in a decree published by the state news agency SANA, comes just days after Abdi formally declared the SDF dissolved and its forces fully merged into the Syrian army. The move is the culmination of a deal reached in January 2026 between Damascus and the Kurdish leadership.