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  • SDF

AFP_Al Majalla

Forging Syrian national unity is key to regional peace

Damascus has already taken steps towards this end, but international support will still be vital. It can also draw on relevant elements from Iraq's governing model.

James Jeffrey 22 October 2025
Al Majalla

Ilham Ahmed on negotiating Syria’s future

In a wide-ranging sitdown interview with Al Majalla, AANES Foreign Affairs Chief Ilham Ahmed lays out the lingering points of contention with Damascus and the way forward

Ibrahim Hamidi 03 October 2025
The "Unity of Position" conference, held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Hasakah on August 8, 2025. Social media

Heading for a showdown? SDF conference riles Damascus

Syria's government needs to centralise decision-making and bring armed groups to heel, but Kurds in the north-east want to establish a 'coalition of the unwilling' with Druze and Alawites. What now?

Subhi Franjieh 13 August 2025
The largest Syrian flag was raised on the highest pole, 110 meters high, in Tishreen Park in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on June 4. Getty

Taif offers clues on the right governing formula for a new Syria

Questions of autonomy, integration, participation, and administration are key to resolving Syria's many disputes among its many groups. Could a 1989 agreement for Lebanon show the way?

Sihanouk Dibo 13 August 2025
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. Reuters

Fading hopes that the SDF will agree to Syrian integration

The autonomous Kurdish-led group in Syria's north-east has been protected by the US for a decade, but the move now is towards integration with Damascus. Unfortunately, the SDF has not got the memo.

Charles Lister 11 July 2025
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 April 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 April 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 March 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 March 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 March 2025
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Axel Rangel Garcia
Politics

Why a cornered Iran is also a problem for China

02 May 2026

Even when appeals to open the Hormuz Strait come from a close ally like Beijing, they fall on deaf ears in Tehran. But hope is not yet lost.

Xiaotong Yang
Sara Padovan
Business & Economy

Global airfares soar amid ongoing US-Iran turmoil

04 May 2026

Airspace closures, rising fuel costs, shifting flight maps and delayed aircraft deliveries have repriced flights around the world, with some travel routes hit worse than others

Abdel-Rahman Ayas
A man holds a flag featuring the late leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei and the new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, at a rally in Tehran on 29 April 2026. Majid Asgaripour / Reuters
Politics

Real Iran splits and the myth of division

04 May 2026

The argument is over the price and presentation, not the basic instinct to preserve the system

Alex Vatanka
A Lebanese guard stands in front of  Magen Abraham, the last Jewish synagogue in Lebanon at Wadi Abou Jmil, Beirut's former Jewish neighbourhood, in the war-devastated city centre. JOSEPH BARRAK / AFP
Culture & Social Affairs

New book recalls Beirut’s once-vibrant Jewish quarter

01 May 2026

Veteran Lebanese journalist Nada Abdelsamad transports readers back to the time when Beirut's Jewish quarter, known at the time as Wadi al-Yahud, was thriving

Abdul Rahman Mazhar Halloush
Turkish fighter jets fly over a warship in Kyrenia, in the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. AFP
Politics

How the Iran war changed Türkiye’s security calculus

05 May 2026

Ankara's national security priority is no longer Kurds or Gülenists, but Israel. Likewise, in Tel Aviv, Türkiye is increasingly seen as a future Israeli adversary. Both are preparing accordingly

Rustum Mahmud

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OPINIONS

Gulf states take on Iran’s sleeper cells

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla - London

Iran’s bid to export disorder across the Gulf

Omar Harkous
Omar Harkous

How Europe helps keep Hezbollah in business

Lina Khatib
Lina Khatib

Iran steps up Syria destabilisation efforts

Subhi Franjieh
Subhi Franjieh
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