ar, مظلوم عبدي , native_name_lang = Kurdish , birth_name = Ferhat Abdi Şahin , other_name = ''

Noms de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

'':
Şahin Cilo,
Mazloum Abdî , nickname = , birth_date = 1967 , birth_place =

Kobanî Kobanî (, , also rendered , ar, كُوبَانِي, Kūbānī) (Kurdish: Kobanî/ کۆبانی) officially Ayn al-Arab ( ar, عَيْن الْعَرَب, ʿAyn al-ʿArab ), is a Kurdish-majority city in northern Syria, lying immediately ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, death_date = , death_place = , allegiance =

Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, M ...

(2012–present) , branch =

Syrian Democratic Forces , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svgborder , caption = Flag , active = 10 October 2015 – present , ideology = DemocracyDecentralizationSecularism ...

(2015–present) *

People's Protection Units The People's Defense Units (YPG), (YPG) ; ar, وحدات حماية الشعب, Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat aš-Šaʽb) also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democra ...

(YPG, 2011/2012–present) , branch_label = , serviceyears = 2003–present , serviceyears_label = , rank = General Commander , rank_label = , servicenumber = , unit = , commands = , battles =

Kurdish–Turkish conflict Kurdish nationalism, Kurdish nationalist uprisings have periodically occurred in Turkey, beginning with the Turkish War of Independence and the consequent transition from the Ottoman Empire to the modern Turkish state and continuing to the prese ...

Syrian Civil War *

Rojava conflict The Rojava conflict, also known as the Rojava Revolution, is a political upheaval and military conflict taking place in northern Syria, known among Kurds as Western Kurdistan or Rojava. During the Syrian civil war that began in 2011, a Kurdish- ...

Eastern Syria insurgency (2017–present) The Eastern Syria insurgency is an armed insurgency being waged by remnants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and both pro and anti- Syrian government Arab nationalist insurgents, against the Autonomous Administration of North a ...

2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring ( tr, Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) by Turkey, was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Ar ...

, battles_label = , awards = Ferhat Abdi Şahin (born 1967, Kobanî, Syria), better known by his ''

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

'' Mazloum Abdi ( ku, Mezlûm Ebdî – ar, مظلوم عبدي) and his previous ''nom de guerre'' Şahin Cilo, is a Syrian Kurdish military leader, serving as the commander-in-chief of the

(SDF).

Early life

Ferhat Abdi Şahin was born to Syrian Kurdish parents in

around 1967. Trained as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

at the

University of Aleppo University of Aleppo ( ar, جَامِعَة حَلَب, Jāmiʿat Ḥalab, also called Aleppo University) is a public university located in Aleppo, Syria. It is the second largest university in Syria after the University of Damascus. During 2005 ...

, according to Turkish sources, Abdi joined the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK) within

in 1990 and was imprisoned five times by the Syrian authorities. While serving with the PKK in Syria, he became a personal friend of PKK leader

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish and Kurdish for "uncle"), is a political prisoner and founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from ...

. Abdi later conducted militant activities in rural areas of

Şemdinli Şemdinli ( ku, Şemzînan, script=Latn, syr, ܫܲܡܙܕܝܼܢ, Šamzdīn) is a town and district located in the Hakkari Province of southeastern Turkey. It was previously in the Ottoman Vilayet of Van and the district centre was called Nevşehi ...

, Turkey in 1996. He left to Europe in 1997 where he was engaged in Kurdish political work until 2003, when he traveled to Iraq where he was allegedly involved in military work. According to Turkish sources, he served as member of the PKK high command in 2005. Abdi became a member of the

People's Defense Forces The People's Defence Forces ( ku, Hêzên Parastina Gel, HPG) is the military wing of the group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). During the 7th Congress of the PKK in January 2000, the HPG replaced the former military wing of the PKK, the People ...

' (HPG)

special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

board from 2009 until 2011/12, when he was sent to Syria by the PKK in order to organise the YPG's activities in Kurdish populated regions of Syria amid the then escalating Syrian Civil War.

Syrian war and Kurdish-ISIS war

In August 2014, he was in charge of the negotiations the

(YPG) held in

Sulaymaniya Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, Go ...

with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and the United States in order to form an effective alliance against the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

(ISIL), after which an alliance with the US was agreed to. Abdi defended

during the

Siege of Kobanî The siege of Kobanî was launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on 13 September 2014, in order to capture the Kobanî Canton and its main city of Kobanî (also known as Kobanê or Ayn al-Arab) in northern Syria, in the ''de facto'' ...

(Oct. 2014-Jan. 2015), refusing to withdraw despite US recommendations to do so. When his family's house was taken a 3rd time by ISIS in house-to-house fights, and given the increased collaboration with USAF, he requested a strike on his home. As the commander of the SDF, Abdi commands 70,000 troops.

Peace building in the AANES

Abdi has stated that he is open to work with the Syrian government within a federal system that includes the existing de facto autonomous region of

. On 29 June 2019 Abdi, as representative of the SDF, signed the action plan of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

aiming to prevent the enlistment of child soldiers in the armed forces. In the wake of the

, Abdi has stated his willingness to work with the Syrian regime and Russia and to make compromises with them in order to protect the local population of northeastern Syria from potential "genocide" by "Turkey and its jihadi mercenaries. As part of a deal with the SDF, Syrian government troops have been given permission to enter the cities of

Manbij Manbij ( ar, مَنْبِج, Manbiǧ, ku, مەنبج, Minbic, tr, Münbiç, Menbic, or Menbiç) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, 30 kilometers (19 mi) west of the Euphrates. In the 2004 census by the Cent ...

and

in the hopes of deterring further Turkish aggression. In October 2019, a group of

US Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

suggested that the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

give Abdi a visa so that he would be able to discuss Syria in the United States. In response, the Turkish Minister of Justice

Abdulhamit Gül Abdulhamit Gül ( tr, Abdülhamit Gül; born 12 March 1977) is a Turkish politician and former Minister of Justice. He is a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey from Gaziantep. He was previously the General Secretary of the Justice ...

criticized the US government for treating Abdi as a "legitimate political figure" and indicated that an extradition request had been issued so that if Abdi would enter US territory, he should be detained to be extradited to Turkey. As ninth upon the Turkish government's most-wanted terrorist list, Abdi has a 9 million

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...

reward offered by Turkey for help in his capture. On October 9, 2019, US president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

wrote a note to Turkey's president

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

, enclosing a note from Abdi, offering to mediate between Turkey and the

YPG The People's Defense Units (YPG), (YPG) ; ar, وحدات حماية الشعب, Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat aš-Šaʽb) also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly-Kurds in Syria, Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the ...

, saying Abdi was "willing to make concessions that they would never have made in the past" and enclosing a note from Abdi. During Erdoğan's November 14 state visit to the US, he returned the letter to Trump, and claimed Abdi was the adoptive son of the in Turkey imprisoned PKK leader

. Erdogan also claimed to have presented Trump with

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

documentation classifying Abdi is a terrorist.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdi, Mazloum Kurdish military personnel Kurdish people Living people Syrian Democratic Forces 1967 births Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party