US Envoy Praises Kurdish Language Rights in Syria
US Special Envoy Tom Barrack called the SDF's integration into Syrian state institutions historic, citing Kurdish language recognition and senior roles for Kurdish leaders.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Tom Barrack, the United States Special Envoy for Syria, on Tuesday, described the agreement to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into Syrian state institutions as "absolutely historic," while also revealing official recognition of the Kurdish language in the education sector and the granting of senior positions within the Syrian government to Mazloum Abdi and Ilham Ahmed.
In a post on his official account on the social media platform X, Barrack tied the development to the US president's broader Middle East plan, describing the SDF's move as that of a steadfast partner stepping forward into a national framework, with a united Syria for all taking shape.
"Absolutely historic. @POTUS's ongoing Middle East Plan – A steadfast partner steps forward into a national framework, and a united Syria for all takes shape," Barrack wrote.
He said the president's leadership had opened the path for the SDF's orderly integration into Syrian state institutions, transforming past division into lasting partnership and restoring to the Syrian people the opportunity to shape their common future.
Barrack said recognizing the Kurdish language in education, along with securing substantive roles for Abdi and Ahmed within the Syrian government, paid due respect to their leadership, the sacrifices of Kurdish partners and their constructive contribution to regional stability. He described the moves as turning yesterday's separations into tomorrow's shared purpose.
"This is what real integration looks like: not winners and losers, but former counterparts with differing points of view crafting a diplomatic solution to strengthen the sovereign nation of Syria. One army, one government, one state," Barrack said.
Barrack's remarks came hours after SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi formally declared Tuesday that his forces' mission had come to an end, announcing the dissolution of the SDF as an independent military structure and the start of a new phase focused on peace, reconstruction and the guarantee of national rights across Syria.
Abdi said the decision was made with full responsibility, describing it as the beginning of a genuine transition from the battlefield to nation-building, from an era of weapons to an era of peace, and from a phase of defending Syria to a phase of constructing it.
"We declare with the utmost responsibility the end of the mission of the Syrian Democratic Forces and their dissolution as an independent military force," Abdi said.
Abdi also addressed the right to education in the Kurdish language, calling it one of the most significant rights Syrian Kurds have pursued for decades. He said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa had publicly committed to protecting this right on several occasions, and that the SDF had sought an open stance from the president on education in the mother tongue and on developing Tuesday's decision further.
Closing his remarks in Kurmanji, Abdi called for a new Syria to be built collectively — one that belongs to all of its components, including Arabs, Kurds, Syriacs, Assyrians and Turkmen.
Barrack's comments mark the clearest US endorsement yet of the integration process, positioning Washington as a direct backer of the arrangement between Damascus and its Kurdish partners.