Syrian Kurdish political groups have made the decision to seek an autonomous province and aim for a federal Syria after being excluded from UN-brokered peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva. The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) is not lobbying for an only-Kurdish region but wants to see the federal system applied to all of Syria as it would be the best way to protect Syria from being divided up due to major distrust among different sides. The Kurdish armed forces also known as the People’s Defence Units (YPG) are one of the most united and able fighting forces in the war and are now left without a say in Syria’s political future. The Syrian regime rejects the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish province in Syria, as well as the U.S. State Department which claims that any new federal model has to emerge from peace talks. The U.S. Pentagon is however strongly backing the Kurds and Russia has suggested that a federalised stated could be a legitimate option for Syria’s future. Neighbouring Turkey opposes a Kurdish state due to fears of encouraging separatism among its own Kurdish minority.

Many Arab states are unitary rather than federal and for the most part provincial governors are appointed by the central government and the central state controls local education and other policy. Representing 10% of the Syrian population and having 10% of the territory in their control, the Syrian Kurds are too important to ignore. The Kurdish military conquests against IS have allowed the Kurds to join Jazeera to Kobane, and recently they have made moves to hook up with Afrin. They call the whole proposed province ‘Rojava’.

Read more (1) >>
Read more (2) >>
Read more (3) >>
Read more (4) >>
Read more (5) >>
Read more (6) >>