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  • SDF
SDF leader Mazloum Abdi (C) and Hamid Darbandi (C-R behind), envoy of Iraqi Kurdish politician Masoud Barzani, attend the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on April 26, 2025. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

In U-turn, Syrian Kurds are now demanding federalism

Having agreed on an outline for integration with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa last month, Kurdish-led groups have now issued a raft of contradictory demands, angering both Damascus and Ankara

Omer Onhon 30, Apr 2025
The US-led Operation Inherent Resolve coalition against the Islamic State (IS) trains SDF fighters in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

Where does the counter-IS mission stand after Sharaa-SDF deal?

An SDF shift away from the US partnership and the risk of IS resurgence could undo years of hard-won progress in the fight against terrorism

Caroline Rose 21, Apr 2025
Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi during the signing of the agreement to integrate the SDF into state institutions, Damascus, March 10, 2025. AFP

Reading between the lines of the Sharaa-Abdi deal

Al Majalla's exclusive interview with YPG commander Mazloum Abdi gives great insight into a landmark deal reached between Damascus and Syria's Kurds. This is my take on what Abdi really meant.

Omer Onhon 14, Mar 2025
Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi during the signing of the agreement to integrate the SDF into state institutions, Damascus, March 10, 2025. AFP

Sharaa's political pragmatism and the myth of sectarianism

After a hugely important deal to integrate Syria's Kurds, there is a growing realisation among myriad factions that national unity is crucial for the country's survival

Ahmed Maher 13, Mar 2025
Yusra Na'im

Mazloum Abdi agrees to merge the SDF into Syria's state army

Al Majalla interviewed the SDF commander who shared his thinking prior to the landmark decision, which also guarantees constitutional rights for Syrian Kurds

Ibrahim Hamidi 11, Mar 2025
A man walks close to a fire raging at a facility in al-Qahtaniyah in northeastern Syria close to the Turkish border on October 5, 2023.

SDF-HTS standoff: Best and worst-case scenarios

While solving the SDF situation in itself will not guarantee success for the larger Syria project, failing to integrate them will almost certainly torpedo that project

James Jeffrey 31, Jan 2025

SDF on shaky ground in new Syria

Fares Garabet 23, Dec 2024
A man walks close to a fire raging at a facility in al-Qahtaniyah in northeastern Syria close to the Turkish border on October 5, 2023. AFP

Turkey warns neighbours and NATO partner after Ankara attack

Increased cross-border operations have followed an attack claimed by the PKK in Ankara as frustration grows over the seeming unwillingness of allies to admit links and act accordingly

Shelly Kittleson 05, Oct 2023
Mazloum Abdi (Kobani), commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks with AFP during an interview in the countryside outside the northwestern Syrian city of Hasakah. AFP

Mazloum Abdi: Syria, Iran, and Turkey 'incited' Arab tribes to attack the SDF

The SDF commander rejects demands to disband his forces and tells Al Majalla in an exclusive interview that US-Russian tension east of the Euphrates is 'under control'

Ibrahim Hamidi 24, Sep 2023
Syrian Arabs in the SDF-held city of Shuhail in the Deir ez-Zor region. May 20, 2019. Shelly Kittleson

Mounting tensions in eastern Syria boil over in 'tribal' uprising

The conflict in Deir ez-Zor marks some of the most serious internal strife within the SDF since the creation of the US-backed forces in late 2015.

Shelly Kittleson 10, Sep 2023
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Politics

Frederic Hof: Israel-Syria peace is far off, but a truce is crucial

28 May 2025

The former US envoy to Damascus tells Al Majalla how to find a path to a lasting settlement and a new place in the Middle East, from his unique perspective and first-hand experience in Assad-era talks

Johaina Khaldieh
Opinion

The Israel-Houthi war achieves nothing and hurts both sides

28 May 2025

Killing Yemeni civilians further ruins Israel's global image. Meanwhile, the Houthis cannot defeat Israel militarily.

Anwar Al-Ansi
Sara Padovan
Business & Economy

The history of tariffs is still being written

29 May 2025

A US federal court has blocked Trump's tariffs and ruled that the president doesn't have unilateral authority to impose them, dealing a major blow to his economic policy

Toufic Chanbour
Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Taha
Culture & Social Affairs

Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha: Pulitzer Prize is a recognition of our story

26 May 2025

The US-based writer does not hold back in what he pens for American readers, nor is he censored. There is just one word that he is forbidden from using.

Houssam Marouf
Sara Padovan
Business & Economy

It’s time to build a regional climate fund

27 May 2025

As global climate finance falters and US support disappears, the MENA region faces a widening funding gap. Now is the time to create a regional climate finance mechanism.

Léa Eid

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OPINIONS

Three decades of Syrian oil production

Al Majalla - London

Gaza’s two wars: fighting both the bombs and the narrative

Samer Abou Hawwach
Samer Abou Hawwach

The true purpose of Gaza’s new aid mechanism doomed to fail

Amr Emam
Amr Emam

A continental spark: floating nuclear power in Africa

Marcelle Nasr
Marcelle Nasr
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