Kobanê first served with the Kurdistan Workers' Party within Syria[2] and was detained several times by the Syrian authorities. He later left Syria and went to Europe where he was engaged in political work, later travelling to Iraq where he was involved in military work.[6] In August 2014 he was in charge of the negotiations the People's Protection Units (YPG) held in Sulaymaniya with Iran and the United States in order to form an effective alliance against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), after which an alliance with the US was agreed to.[2] As the commander of the SDF, Kobanê says he commands 60,000 troops.[3] Kobanê has stated that he is open to work together with the Syrian government within a federal system that includes the existing de facto autonomous Democratic Federation of Northern Syria.[8]