The American website Al-Monitor, in a report titled “Mazloum Kobani’s success in Munich,” said recent events took an interesting turn when news spread that Mazloum Kobani, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), would attend the Munich Security Conference—an annual gathering of global leaders and influential figures modeled after the Davos forum.

Videos circulated on social media showing Kobani and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani meeting on Friday in Munich with a U.S. delegation led by Marco Rubio. This reflected a shift in the Kurdish commander’s role—from the battlefield to global diplomacy.

Al-Monitor noted the matter emerged at the last minute, possibly due to visa issues, but still represented a major achievement.

Kobani’s last visit to Europe was between 1995 and 1999, when he was responsible for the European wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Sources indicated Damascus was angered by Kobani’s presence in Munich, though Shaibani remained calm. It can also be concluded that Ankara was unhappy, as Kobani remains on Turkey’s most-wanted red list.

There has also been speculation that Kobani may have secretly met Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, who was also expected to attend the Munich conference.

In recent weeks, informed sources told Al-Monitor that a meeting in Ankara was possible if Kobani accepted the conditions of a unity agreement signed with Damascus on January 18, but Kobani rejected it.

With strong last-minute backing from the U.S. Congress, the Syrian Democratic Forces improved their negotiating position and reached a new agreement on January 30. This allowed the SDF to retain four brigades, even under the command structure of the Syrian army.

Turkey, like Damascus, appears to have accepted this outcome. As a goodwill gesture, about 100 PKK fighters who were not Syrian left Syria for bases in Iraqi Kurdistan, helping ease Turkish opposition to keeping some SDF forces.

With the withdrawal of U.S. forces from northeastern Syria, Turkey’s concerns about a small U.S.-backed Kurdish state in Syria appear to have diminished. However, Turkey insists it has no immediate plans to withdraw its thousands of troops from Syria.

In any case, after weeks of crisis in which the SDF lost 80% of the territory it once controlled, Kobani’s trip to Germany provided him with much-needed momentum.