The integration of the Kurdish administration within Syria's state institutions is now complete, Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said on Thursday, marking the end of the Kurds' long-held dream of autonomy.
The announcement follows months of negotiations between the two sides after a January agreement that called for the full integration of Kurdish civil and military institutions into the state -- a move Washington deemed "historic".
"I want to say that the phase of integrating military, security and administrative institutions into national state institutions is complete and finished," Abdi, who heads the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said at an event in Qamishli in northeastern Syria.
"From now on, we begin a new phase," he added.
"Our struggle will continue, to cement our people's rights in the constitution."
