January 23, 2026
SPECIAL MEF BRIEFING:
Syria on the Brink
The end of the Syrian Democratic Forces?
Syria has witnessed dramatic events over the last week. The government of President Ahmed Sharaa sent its military forces east of the Euphrates River in an apparent attempt to destroy the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North East Syria and its army, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Forces of the Syrian Arab Army, accompanied by tribal militia rapidly took the town of Tabqa and then continued to advance, conquering the Arab majority Raqqa and Deir al-Zur Provinces from the SDF. An announcement of a ceasefire proved premature and government forces are continuing to advance, now into Kurdish majority areas. Reports of executions of SDF prisoners, and freeing of ISIS prisoners by government forces have begun to circulate. What will happen next? Is the Kurdish-led project in Syria now finished and if so, what is likely to follow it? What do the events imply for the future of minorities in Syria?
Kamal Chomani is a Ph.D. student at the University of Leipzig in Germany, focusing on political legitimacy in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, Erfurt, which he completed in September 2022. Prior to that, in 2013, he obtained a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Bangalore, India. With over a decade of experience as a journalist in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, he has extensively written in English and Kurdish about the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Iraq affairs with a focus on state building, democracy, human rights, corruption, and Middle East affairs, including the Kurdish question in Turkey, Iran, and Syria. He is a non-resident fellow at the Kurdish Peace Institute in Washington, DC. Previously, he held the position of non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for the Middle East Policy in Washington, DC.
Sirwan Kajjo is a journalist and researcher specializing in Kurdish politics, Islamic militancy, and Syrian affairs. He has contributed two book chapters on Syria and the Kurds, published by Indiana University Press and Cambridge University Press. His writings on Syrian and Kurdish issues have appeared in the Middle East Forum, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and other prominent think tanks and publications. Kajjo is also the author of Nothing But Soot, a novel set in Syria. He holds a BA in government and international politics from George Mason University.
