Mazloum Abdi

Biography

Mazloum Abdi, born Ferhat Abdi Şahin, is a Syrian Kurdish military commander who spent decades as a fighter for the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) in Turkey before becoming the pivotal US military partner in northeastern Syria. A veteran guerrilla commander who trained in PKK camps in the Bekaa Valley and spent years fighting Turkish security forces, he emerged as the leader of the YPG (People's Protection Units) in northern Syria as the civil war created a power vacuum that allowed Syrian Kurds to establish autonomous governance in the region they call Rojava. His alliance with the United States proved decisive in the war against ISIS; under his command, the SDF became the primary ground force that dismantled the caliphate, capturing Raqqa in October 2017 and eventually cornering the last ISIS holdout at Baghouz in March 2019. The partnership created a profound strategic tension: while the US considered the SDF its most effective anti-ISIS partner, NATO ally Turkey designates the YPG as a terrorist organization due to its PKK ties. In October 2019, President Trump abruptly announced a withdrawal of US forces from northeastern Syria, green-lighting a Turkish military offensive against Kurdish positions. Mazloum Abdi made the agonizing decision to pivot, reaching a deal with Assad and Russia to allow Syrian government forces into some Kurdish areas to deter the Turkish advance — a remarkable alignment of former enemies born of necessity.

Key Battles