Syria’s Kurdish forces are facing one of the most decisive moments in their modern history as pressure from Damascus intensifies and their long standing alliance with the United States rapidly weakens. Once a central pillar of Western strategy against the Islamic State group, the Kurds now find themselves increasingly isolated and pushed to relinquish the autonomy they fought to establish.
For more than a decade, Kurdish forces backed by Washington played a leading role in the battle against Islamic State. The Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces emerged as a dominant military and political actor between twenty twelve and twenty thirteen, establishing control over large areas in northern and northeastern Syria. This territory became known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, often referred to as Rojava, a project that embodied Kurdish aspirations for self rule within a fractured Syrian state.
That reality is now rapidly changing. Since the fall of Bashar al Assad, Syria’s new leadership has moved to consolidate power and forge its own relationship with the United States. In doing so, it has applied mounting pressure on the Kurds to abandon their ambitions of autonomy and submit to central authority in Damascus.
Violent clashes earlier this year marked a major setback for Kurdish forces. In January, they were driven out of Aleppo following confrontations with government troops. Soon after, Kurdish units evacuated Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, cities that once symbolized their military success against Islamic State.
At its peak, the Syrian Democratic Forces controlled nearly thirty percent of Syrian territory. Today, that footprint has shrunk dramatically. Kurdish fighters have retreated to limited strongholds along the Turkish border, including al Hasakah, Qamishli, and Kobane. Alongside territorial losses, the SDF has handed over governance of prisons holding thousands of Islamic State detainees, further eroding its strategic leverage.
The shift has been openly acknowledged by Washington. United States Ambassador to Syria Tom Barrack said that the original purpose of the SDF as the primary force fighting Islamic State has largely expired. He noted that Damascus is now willing and able to take over security responsibilities, including control of detention facilities and camps holding extremist fighters and their families.
Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa has since issued a clear deadline. The Kurds have until January twenty four to present a plan for the peaceful integration of Rojava into the Syrian state. The message is unmistakable. Autonomy as it has existed over the past years is no longer acceptable to the new government.
For many observers, the question now is whether the hard won gains in Kurdish self governance and de facto sovereignty are unraveling. Adel Bakawan, director of the European Institute for Studies on the Middle East and North Africa, argues that the Kurds are confronting a profound strategic rupture. According to him, the regional and international conditions that once enabled Kurdish autonomy have shifted decisively, leaving little room for maneuver.
As alliances realign and Damascus reasserts control, Syria’s Kurds stand at a crossroads. Whether they can preserve elements of their political project through negotiation or whether their experiment in autonomy will dissolve under pressure remains one of the most consequential questions shaping Syria’s future.
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