Established in 2015, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have emerged as a key player in Syria and arguably the wider region. The SDF are a coalition of armed forces, including Kurdish, Arab, and Christian groups. It effectively acts as the military branch of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
A Brief History of the Syrian Democratic Forces
Although the SDF are composed of multiple different ethnic groups, they owe their inception and a large number of their members to the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish military group. Because of the YPG’s reputed links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been designated a “terrorist group,” the SDF’s relationships with other world powers have been complicated, to say the least. In particular, Turkey, which staged an invasion into northern Syria in 2019, has been outright hostile to the YPG while Turkey’s supported terrorist organizations such as Jabbat al Nusra, HTS(al Qaeda sister groups), and ISIS.
In spite of its potentially controversial nature, however, there’s no doubt that the SDF’s impact on the region has been positive. The SDF help to defend the territory of the AANES from Turkey and the Syrian Civil War. Further, the SDF are soley credited with ousting the Islamic State (ISIS) from the area in partnership with U.S. and coalition forces.
The United States and the Syrian Democratic Forces
For several years, the United States and European allies supplied aid in the form of military and financial support to the SDF. This partnership was integral to the defeat of ISIS. In 2019, however, President Trump abruptly announced that US troops would withdraw from northern regions. The decision prompted an enormous amount of backlash, both within the US and outside of it.
Since the US’s withdrawal from the northern regions, the SDF have continued to fight ISIS holdouts and resist the encroachment of Turkish occupation. Still, without international aid or validation, their situation remains precarious and their future uncertain.
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