View source for Place:Rojava

{{short description|De facto autonomous region in Syria}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
| iso3166code = omit
| native_name = {{unbulleted list|item_style=font-size:65%; |{{native name|ku|Rêveberiya Xweser a Bakur û Rojhilatê Sûriyeyê}}<br/>{{native name|ar|الإدارة الذاتية لشمال وشرق سوريا}}<br/> {{native name|syc|ܡܕܰܒܪܳܢܘܬ݂ܳܐ ܝܳܬ݂ܰܝܬܳܐ ܠܓܰܪܒܝܳܐ ܘܡܰܕܢܚܳܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܰܐ}}<br/>{{native name|tr|Kuzey ve Doğu Suriye Özerk Yönetimi}}}}
| common_name = North and East Syria
| status = De facto autonomous region of [[Place:Syria|Syria]]
| image_flag = De facto SA-NES Flag.svg
| flag_type = Flag
| image_coat = Emblem_of_the_SA-NES.svg
| symbol_type = Emblem{{ref|symbols|a}}
| image_map = De facto cantons of Rojava.png
| map_caption = Areas under the region's administration
| national_anthem = 
| languages_type = Official languages
| languages = See languages
*[[Social:Kurdish languages|Kurdish]] 
*[[Social:Arabic language|Arabic]] 
*Syriac-Aramaic
| regional_languages = 
| capital = Ayn Issa<ref name=kurdistan24newadmin/>
| coordinates = {{Coord|36|23|7|N|38|51|34|E|type:city}}
| largest_city = [[Place:Raqqa|Raqqa]]
| demonym =
| government_type = Libertarian socialist federated [[Philosophy:Semi-direct democracy|semi-direct democracy]]
| leader_title1 = Co-Presidents
| leader_name1 = Îlham Ehmed<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fetah |first1=Vîviyan |title=Îlham Ehmed: Dê rêxistinên me li Şamê jî ava bibin |url=https://www.rudaw.net/kurmanci/middleeast/syria/170720181 |accessdate=29 September 2019 |work=www.rudaw.net |agency=Rudaw Media Network |date=17 July 2018 |language=ku}}</ref>
<br/>Mansur Selum<ref name=recognition>{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kurdish-pyd-declares-federalism-northern-syria-1311505605|title=Syrian Kurds declare new federation in bid for recognition|work=Middle East Eye|date=17 March 2016}}</ref>
| leader_title2 = Co-Chairs 
| leader_name2 = Amina Omar<br>Riad Darar<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawarnews.com/en/haber/amina-omar-ryad-derrar-elected-as-co-chairs-of-msd-h2572.html|title=Amina Omar ,Ryad Derrar elected as co-chairs of MSD|language=en}}</ref>
| legislature = Syrian Democratic Council
| area_magnitude = 
| area_km2 = 50,000
| area_sq_mi = 
| area_footnote = <ref>{{cite web |title=War Statistics / Syrian War Statistics - Syrian Civil War Map |url=https://syriancivilwarmap.com/war-statistics/ |website=Syrian Civil War Map - Live Middle East Map/ Map of the Syrian Civil War}}</ref>
| population_estimate_year = 2018
| population_estimate = ≈2,000,000<ref name=washingtoninstitute1>{{cite web |author1=Fabrice Balanche |title=Sectarianism in Syria's Civil War|page=24|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/SyriaAtlasCOMPLETE-3.pdf |website=The Washington Institute for Near East Policy}}</ref>
| sovereignty_type = Autonomous region
| established_event1 = Transitional administration declared
| established_date1  = 2013
| established_event2 = Cantons declare autonomy
| established_date2  = January 2014
| established_event3 = Cantons declare federation
| established_date3  = 17 March 2016
| established_event4 = New administration declared
| established_date4  = 6 September 2018
| currency = Syrian pound
| currency_code = SYP
| time_zone = EET
| utc_offset = +2
| drives_on = right
| footnote_a = {{note|symbols}} Several symbols have been used to represent the entity in official settings. See Symbols of North and East Syria for more.
| footnote_b = The region has an official page on [https://facebook.com/pg/الإدارة-الذاتية-لشمال-وشرق-سوريا-952306884959249/ Facebook].
}}
The '''Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria''' ('''NES'''), also known as '''Rojava''',{{efn|The name "Rojava" ("The West") was initially used by the region's PYD-led government, before its usage was dropped in 2016.{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=154}}{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=89}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/51940fb9-3aff-4e51-bcf8-b1629af00299/-Rojava--no-longer-exists---Northern-Syria--adopted-instead-|title='Rojava' no longer exists, 'Northern Syria' adopted instead|website=Kurdistan24}}</ref> Since then, the name is still used by some locals and international observers.<ref name="jazeera turkey"/><ref name="morningstar"/> }} is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern [[Place:Syria|Syria]].{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=11, 95}}{{sfnp|Zabad|2017|pp=219, 228}} It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, [[Place:Raqqa|Raqqa]], Tabqa, Manbij and [[Place:Deir ez-Zor Governorate|Deir Ez-Zor]].{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=97–98}}<ref name=electionsregions/><ref name="Second conference of Shahba region">{{cite web|url=http://cantonafrin.com/en/news/view/1658.a-delegation-from-the-democratic-administration-of-self-participate-in-the-second-conference-of-the-el--shahba-region.html|title=Delegation from the Democratic administration of Self-participate of self-participate in the first and second conference of the Shaba region|date=4 February 2016|website=Cantonafrin.com|accessdate=12 June 2016}}</ref> The region gained its de facto autonomy in 2012 in the context of the ongoing [[Religion:Rojava conflict|Rojava conflict]] and the wider Syrian Civil War, in which its official military force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has taken part.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49973218|title=Turkey's Syria offensive explained in four maps|date=14 October 2019|work=BBC|accessdate=1 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Syria Kurds adopt constitution for autonomous federal region|url=https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/12/30/syria-kurds-adopt-constitution-for-autonomous-federal-region|accessdate=5 October 2018|publisher=TheNewArab|date=31 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005194832/https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/12/30/syria-kurds-adopt-constitution-for-autonomous-federal-region|archive-date=5 October 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

While entertaining some foreign relations, the region is not officially recognized as autonomous by the government of [[Place:Syria|Syria]] or any international state or organization.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/fight-kobane-may-have-created-new-alliance-syria-kurds-assad-regime-1701363|title=Fight For Kobane May Have Created A New Alliance In Syria: Kurds And The Assad Regime|date=8 October 2014|work=International Business Times|accessdate=18 February 2015}}</ref><ref name=russia-mediates/> Northeastern Syria is [[Social:Polyethnicity|polyethnic]] and home to sizeable ethnic Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian populations, with smaller communities of ethnic Turkmen, Armenians and Circassians.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=xviii, 112}}{{sfnp|Zabad|2017|pp=219, 228–229}}

The supporters of the local authorities state that it is an officially [[Philosophy:Secularism|secular]] polity{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=xviii, 66, 200}}<ref name=marriage /><ref name=Dawronoye/> with [[Philosophy:Direct democracy|direct democratic]] ambitions based on an [[Social:Anarchism|anarchistic]] and [[Earth:Democratic confederalism|libertarian socialist ideology]] promoting [[Social:Decentralization|decentralization]], [[Social:Gender equality|gender equality]],{{sfnp|Zabad|2017|p=219}}{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=156–163}} environmental [[Earth:Sustainability|sustainability]] and pluralistic tolerance for religious, cultural and political diversity, and that these values are mirrored in its constitution, society, and politics, stating it to be a model for a federalized Syria as a whole, rather than outright independence.<ref>{{cite news|title=PYD leader: SDF operation for Raqqa countryside in progress, Syria can only be secular|url=http://aranews.net/2016/05/poyd-leader-current-sdf-operation-recapture-northern-countryside-raqqa-not-city/|accessdate=8 October 2016|publisher=ARA News|date=28 May 2016}}</ref><ref name="utopia">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/opinion/the-kurds-democratic-experiment.html|title=The Kurds' Democratic Experiment |last=Ross|first=Carne|date=2015-09-30|work=New York Times|accessdate=2016-05-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=In der Maur|first1=Renée|last2=Staal|first2=Jonas|title=Stateless Democracy|date=2015|publisher=BAK|location=Utrecht|isbn=978-90-77288-22-1|page=19|url=http://newworldsummit.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/NWA5-Stateless-Democracy1.pdf|chapter=Introduction}}</ref><ref name=Jongerden>{{cite web|url= http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2012/12/turkey4358b.pdf|format=PDF|title=Rethinking Politics and Democracy in the Middle East|last=Jongerden|first=Joost|date=5–6 December 2012 |website=Ekurd.net |accessdate=9 October 2016}}</ref><ref name=MiddleEastEye/> The criticism against the region has included reports of [[Social:Authoritarianism|authoritarianism]],{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=94}} [[Social:Kurdification|Kurdification]],{{sfnp|Zabad|2017|pp=219, 228–229}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Kurds accused of "ethnic cleansing" by Syria rebels|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kurds-accused-ethnic-cleansing-syria-rebels-isis/|accessdate=June 22, 2015|website=cbsnews}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Syrian rebels accuse Kurdish forces of 'ethnic cleansing' of Sunni Arabs|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11676808/Syrian-rebels-accuse-Kurdish-forces-of-ethnic-cleansing-of-Sunni-Arabs.html/|accessdate=June 22, 2015|website=The Telegraph}}</ref> ban on critical journalists,<ref name="Khalaf"/>{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=99, 114}} and influence from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).<ref name="Khalaf"/>

Since 2016, Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces have captured parts of Rojava through a [[Place:Rojava#Turkish military operations and occupation|series of military operations]] against the SDF.

==Polity names and translations==
[[File:Flag of Rojava.svg|thumb|The Tricolor flag of TEV-DEM, adopted circa 2012, commonly used by Kurds in Syria.]]
Parts of Northern Syria are known as '''Western Kurdistan''' / '''West Kurdistan''' ({{lang-ku|Rojavayê Kurdistanê}}) or simply '''Rojava''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|r|oʊ|ʒ|ə|ˈ|v|ɑː}} {{respell|ROH|zhə|VAH|'}}; {{IPA-ku|roʒɑˈvɑ|lang}} "the West"),<ref name="lister154">{{harvnb|Lister|2015|p=154}}: "On 19 July the PYD formally announced that it had written a constitution for an autonomous Syrian Kurdish region to be known as West Kurdistan."</ref>{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=89}}<ref>{{cite web|url = http://ku.hawarnews.com/yekineya-anti-teror-a-rojavaye-kurdistane-hate-avakirin/|title = Yekîneya Antî Teror a Rojavayê Kurdistanê hate avakirin|language = Kurdish|date = 7 April 2015|website = Ajansa Nûçeyan a Hawar|accessdate = 13 May 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150512023530/http://ku.hawarnews.com/yekineya-anti-teror-a-rojavaye-kurdistane-hate-avakirin/|archive-date = 12 May 2015|url-status = dead|df = dmy-all}}</ref> one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan.<ref>''Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland'', (2014), by Ofra Bengio, University of Texas Press</ref> The name "Rojava" was thus associated with a Kurdish identity of the administration. As the region expanded and increasingly included areas dominated by non-Kurdish groups, most importantly Arabs, "Rojava" was used less and less by the administration in hopes of deethnicising its appearance and making it more acceptable to other ethnicities.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=89, 151–152}} Regardless, the polity continued to be called "Rojava" by locals and international observers,<ref name="jazeera turkey">{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/turkey-military-operation-syria-latest-updates-191013083950643.html |title=Turkey's military operation in Syria: All the latest updates |work=al Jazeera |date=14 October 2019 |accessdate=29 October 2019}}</ref><ref name="gurcan">{{cite web|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/11/turkey-syria-pkk-worried-by-growing-popularity-of-ypg-kurds.html |title=Is the PKK worried by the YPG's growing popularity? |author=Metin Gurcan |work=al-Monitor|date=7 November 2019 |accessdate=7 November 2019 }}</ref><ref name="morningstar">{{cite news| url = https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/communist-volunteers-fighting-turkish-invasion-syria| title = The Communist volunteers fighting the Turkish invasion of Syria| date = 31 October 2019| work = Morning Star| access-date = 1 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.ardmediathek.de/ard/player/Y3JpZDovL25kci5kZS81YmI0NzU0OC0zNGI3LTRlMTYtYWI2MC03YWM3ZDA5YmRhNDQ/| title = Nordsyrien: Warum ein Deutscher sein Leben für die Kurden riskiert | trans-title= Northern Syria: Why a German risks his life for the Kurds |language = German| date = 31 October 2019| work = ARD| access-date = 1 November 2019}}</ref> with journalist Metin Gurcan noting that "the concept of Rojava [had become] a brand gaining global recognition" by 2019.<ref name="gurcan"/> The territory around Jazira province of northeastern Syria is called by Syriac-Assyrians as '''Gozarto''' ({{lang-syc|ܓܙܪܬܐ|translit=Gozarto}}), part of the historical [[Place:Assyrian homeland|Assyrian homeland]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=|title=Aramaic (Assyrian/Syriac) Dictionary & Phrasebook: Swadaya-English, Turoyo-English, English-Swadaya-Turoyo|last=Awde|first=Nicholas|last2=Lamassu|first2=Nineb|last3=Al-Jeloo|first3=Nicholas|date=2007|publisher=Hippocrene Books|year=|isbn=9780781810876|location=|page=300|language=en}}</ref> The area has also been nicknamed '''Federal Northern Syria''', and the '''democratic confederalist autonomous areas of northern Syria'''.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=89}}

The first name of the local government for the Kurdish-dominated areas in Afrin District, Ayn al-Arab District (Kobanî), and northern [[Place:Al-Hasakah Governorate|al-Hasakah Governorate]] was '''Interim Transitional Administration''', adopted in 2013.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=89}} After the three autonomus cantons were proclaimed in 2014,{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=93–94}} PYD-governed territories were also nicknamed '''the Autonomous Regions'''{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=89}} or '''Democratic Autonomous Administration'''.<ref name=omran2018>{{cite web|url=http://omranstudies.org/publications/papers/the-autonomous-administration-in-northern-syria-questions-of-legitimacy-and-identity.html|title=The Autonomous Administration in Northern Syria: Questions of Legitimacy and Identity|publisher=Omran Center for Strategic Studies|date=26 July 2018|accessdate=2019-02-14}}</ref> On 17 March 2016, northern Syria's administration self-declared the establishment of a federal system of government as the '''Democratic Federation of Rojava – Northern Syria''' ({{lang-ku|Federaliya Demokratîk a Rojava – Bakurê Sûriyê}}; {{lang-ar|الفدرالية الديمقراطية لروج آفا – شمال سوريا|translit=al-Fidirāliyya al-Dīmuqrāṭiyya li-Rūj ʾĀvā – Šamāl Suriyā}}; {{lang-syc|ܦܕܪܐܠܝܘܬ݂ܐ ܕܝܡܩܪܐܛܝܬܐ ܠܓܙܪܬܐ ܒܓܪܒܝܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܐ|translit=Federaloyotho Demoqraṭoyto l'Gozarto b'Garbyo d'Suriya}}; sometimes abbreviated as NSR).{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=89}}<ref name="AlJazeeraFederal">{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/syria-civil-war-kurds-declare-federal-system-north-160317111902534.html |title=Syria civil war: Kurds declare federal region in north|language= English|date =17 March 2016|website=Aljazeera}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/kurds-declare-federal-region-in-syria-says-official-1458216404|title=Kurds Declare ‘Federal Region’ in Syria, Says Official|last=Bradley|first=Matt|last2=Albayrak|first2=Ayla|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|last3=Ballout|first3=Dana|access-date=2016-03-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ku.hawarnews.com/resnivisa-hevpeymana-civaki-ya-federaliya-demokratik-a-bakure-suriyeye/|title=Reşnivîsa Hevpeymana Civakî ya Federaliya Demokratîk a Bakurê Sûriyeyê – ANHA|website=ku.hawarnews.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://fdr-bs.com/kur/2017/02/02/hevpeymana-civaki-ya-federaliya-demokratik-ji-bo-bakure-suriye/|title=Hevpeymana Civakî ya Federaliya Demokratîk ji bo Bakurê Sûriyê|publisher=}}</ref>

The updated December 2016 constitution of the polity uses the name '''Democratic Federation of Northern Syria''' (DFNS) ({{lang-ku|Federaliya Demokratîk a Bakûrê Sûriyê}}; {{lang-ar|الفدرالية الديمقراطية لشمال سوريا|translit=al-Fidirāliyya al-Dīmuqrāṭiyya li-Šamāl Suriyā}}; {{lang-syc|ܦܕܪܐܠܝܘܬ݂ܐ ܕܝܡܩܪܐܛܝܬܐ ܕܓܪܒܝ ܣܘܪܝܐ|translit=Federaloyotho Demoqraṭoyto d'Garbay Suriya}}).<ref name="en.hawarnews.com">{{cite news|url=http://en.hawarnews.com/second-day-of-northern-syria-constituent-assembly-conference-takes-place/|title=Second day of Northern Syria Constituent Assembly conference takes place|language=English|date=28 December 2016|publisher=Hawar News Agency|access-date=28 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611083336/http://en.hawarnews.com/second-day-of-northern-syria-constituent-assembly-conference-takes-place/|archive-date=11 June 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Syrian Kurdish groups, allies say approve blueprint for federal system|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-idUKKBN14I1BG|accessdate=2017-01-01|publisher=Reuters|date=2016-12-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title='Rojava' no longer exists, 'Northern Syria' adopted instead|url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/51940fb9-3aff-4e51-bcf8-b1629af00299/-Rojava--no-longer-exists---Northern-Syria--adopted-instead-|accessdate=2017-01-01|publisher=Kurdistan24|date=2016-12-31}}</ref><ref name="Northern Syria Social Contract in Syriac">{{cite web|url=http://fdr-bs.com/sur/2017/02/03/%DC%A9%DC%9D%DC%A1%DC%90-%DC%9F%DC%A2%DC%98%DC%AB%DC%9D%DC%9D%DC%90-%DC%95%DC%A6%DC%95%DC%AA%DC%90%DC%A0%DC%9D%DC%98%DC%AC%DD%82%DC%90-%DC%95%DC%9D%DC%A1%DC%A9%DC%AA%DC%90%DC%9B%DC%9D%DC%AC%DC%90/|title=ܩܝܡܐ ܟܢܘܫܝܝܐ ܕܦܕܪܐܠܝܘܬ݂ܐ ܕܝܡܩܪܐܛܝܬܐ ܕܓܪܒܝ ܣܘܪܝܐ|publisher=}}</ref>

Since 6 September 2018, the Syrian Democratic Council has adopted a new name for the region, naming it the '''Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria''' (NES) ({{lang-ku|Rêveberiya Xweser a Bakur û Rojhilatê Sûriyeyê}}; {{lang-ar|الإدارة الذاتية لشمال وشرق سوريا}}; {{lang-syc|ܡܕܰܒܪܳܢܘܬ݂ܳܐ ܝܳܬ݂ܰܝܬܳܐ ܠܓܰܪܒܝܳܐ ܘܡܰܕܢܚܳܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܰܐ|translit=Mdabronuṯo Yoṯayto l-Garbyo w-Madnḥyo d-Suriya}}; {{lang-tr|Kuzey ve Doğu Suriye Özerk Yönetimi}}) also sometimes translated into English as the "Self-Administration of North and East Syria", encompassing the Euphrates, Afrin, and Jazira regions as well as the local civil councils in the regions of Raqqa, Manbij, Tabqa, and Deir ez-Zor.<ref name=hawarnewsANHA/><ref name=kurdistan24newadmin/><ref name=hawarnewsaminomar/>

==Geography==
{{Gallery
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| File:Khabur,SheikhHamad.jpg
 | alt1=
 | The [[Place:Khabur (Euphrates)|Khabur river]], near Dūr-Katlimmu
| File:
 | alt2=Kokab_Mountain_al_Hasakah.JPG
 | [[Earth:Sharat Kovakab|Sharat Kovakab]], a volcano near the city of [[Place:Al-Hasakah|Al-Hasakah]]
| File:Jezirah 0001.jpg
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 | Farmland north of the Khabur river
| File:Zalabiya,Euphrat.jpg
 | alt4=
 | The Euphrates near Halabiye; the archaeological site Zalabiye can be seen in the background on the left bank.
}}

The region lies to the west of the [[Place:Tigris|Tigris]] along the [[Place:Turkey|Turkish]] border and borders [[Place:Iraqi Kurdistan|Iraqi Kurdistan]] to the southeast. The region is at latitude approximately 36°30' north and mostly consists of plains and low hills, however there are some mountains in the region such as Mount Abdulaziz as well as the western part of the [[Unsolved:Sinjar Mountains|Sinjar Mountain Range]] in the Jazira Region.

In terms of governorates of Syria, the region is formed from parts of the [[Place:Al-Hasakah Governorate|al-Hasakah]], [[Place:Raqqa Governorate|Raqqa]], [[Place:Deir ez-Zor Governorate|Deir ez-Zor]] and the Aleppo governorates.

==History==

=== Background ===
[[File:TellHalaf,NE-palace1.jpg|thumb|left|Having been part of the Fertile Crescent, Northern Syria has several Neolithic sites such as Tell Halaf.]]
[[File:SchechHamad,RedHouse2.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the "Red House" of Dūr-Katlimmu exposed by excavations (6th century AD)]]
Northern Syria is part of the [[Place:Fertile Crescent|Fertile Crescent]], and includes archaeological sites dating to the Neolithic, such as [[Place:Tell Halaf|Tell Halaf]]. In antiquity, the area was part of the Mitanni kingdom, its centre being the Khabur river valley in modern-day Jazira Region. It was then part of [[Place:Assyria|Assyria]], with the last surviving Assyrian imperial records, from between 604 BC and 599 BC, were found in and around the Assyrian city of Dūr-Katlimmu.<ref>Assyria 1995: Proceedings of the 10th Anniversary Symposium of the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project / Helsinki, September 7–11, 1995.</ref> Later it was ruled by different dynasties and empires - the [[Place:Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]] of [[Religion:Iran|Iran]], the Hellenes who succeeded Alexander the Great, the Artaxiads of [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Crook|first1=JA |display-authors=0 |title=The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 9: The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146–43 BC|date=1985|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-1139054379|page=603}}</ref> Rome, the Iranian [[History:Parthian Empire|Parthians]] and<ref>{{cite book|last1=Andrea |first1=Alfred J.|last2=Overfield|first2=James H.|title=The Human Record: Sources of Global History, Volume I: To 1500|date=2015|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1305537460|page=133|edition=8}}</ref> Sasanians,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Daryaee|first1=Touraj|title=Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire|date=2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-0857716668|page=33}}</ref> then by the [[Place:Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] and successive Arab Islamic caliphates.

Kurdish settlement in Syria goes back to before the [[Religion:Crusades|Crusades]] of the 11th century. A number of Kurdish military and feudal settlements from before this period have been found in Syria. Such settlements have been found in the Alawite and north Lebanese mountains and around Hama and its surroundings. The Crusade fortress of Krak des Chevaliers, which is known in Arabic as ''Hisn al-Akrad'' (Castle of the Kurds), was originally a Kurdish military settlement before it was enlarged by the French Crusaders. Similarly, the Kurd-Dagh (Kurdish Mount) has been inhabited by Kurds for more than a millennium.<ref name=Kreyenbroek>{{cite book|last=Philip G. Kreyenbroek|first=Stefan Sperl|title=The Kurds: a contemporary overview|year=1992|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=0-415-07265-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/114 114]|edition=Reprint.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/114}}</ref>

During the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]] (1516–1922), large [[Social:Kurdish languages|Kurdish-speaking]] tribal groups both settled in and were deported to areas of northern Syria from [[Earth:Anatolia|Anatolia]]. The demographics of this area underwent a huge shift in the early part of the 20th century. Some Circassian, Kurdish and Chechen tribes cooperated with the Ottoman (Turkish) authorities in the massacres of Armenian and Assyrian Christians in [[Place:Upper Mesopotamia|Upper Mesopotamia]], between 1914 and 1920, with further attacks on unarmed fleeing civilians conducted by local Arab militias.<ref name="Travis2">Travis, Hannibal. ''Genocide in the Middle East: The Ottoman Empire, Iraq, and Sudan''. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2010, 2007, pp. 237–77, 293–294.</ref><ref>Hovannisian, Richard G., 2007. [https://books.google.com/books?id=K3monyE4CVQC The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies]. Accessed on 11 November 2014.</ref><ref name="R. S. Stafford 2006 25">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LSzuzsRh37gC&pg=PA25|title= The Tragedy of the Assyrians|author= R. S. Stafford|pages= 24–25|year= 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Jordi |last=Tejel |year=2008 |title=Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society|pages=25–29|url=http://www.kurdipedia.org/files/books/2012/74488.PDF}}</ref> Many Assyrians fled to Syria during the genocide and settled mainly in the Jazira area.<ref name="R. S. Stafford 2006 25"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.meforum.org/17/syria-and-iraq-repression|title= Ray J. Mouawad, Syria and Iraq –  Repression Disappearing Christians of the Middle East|publisher= Middle East Forum|date=2001|accessdate=20 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4kTdYgwQPkC&pg=PA162|title= Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide|author= Bat Yeʼor|page= 162|year= 2002}}</ref> Starting in 1926, the region saw another immigration of Kurds following the failure of the Sheikh Said rebellion against the [[Place:Turkey|Turkish authorities]].<ref>Abu Fakhr, Saqr, 2013. As-Safir daily Newspaper, Beirut. [http://assafir.com/Article/331189#.UrbZIuK_guh in Arabic] [http://araborthodoxy.blogspot.ca/2013/12/as-safir-on-history-of-persecution-of.html Christian Decline in the Middle East: A Historical View]</ref> While many of the Kurds in Syria have been there for centuries, waves of Kurds fled their homes in Turkey and settled in Syrian Al-Jazira Province, where they were granted citizenship by the French Mandate authorities.<ref name="Chatty2010">{{cite book|author=Dawn Chatty|title=Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8OsgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA230|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-48693-4|pages=230–232}}</ref> The number of Turkish Kurds settled in al-Jazira province during the 1920s was estimated at 20,000 people, out of 100,000 inhabitants, with the remainder of the population being Christians (Syriac, Armenian, Assyrian) and Arabs.<ref name="The Refugee Problem">{{cite book|last=Simpson|first=John Hope|title=The Refugee Problem: Report of a Survey|year=1939|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=London|ASIN=B0006AOLOA|page=458|edition=First|url-access=registration|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_refugee_problem_report_of_a_survey.html?id=SxR8uwEACAAJ}}</ref>

===Rule from Damascus===
[[File:Hafez al-Assad official portrait.jpg|thumb|180px|right|The Ba'athist government of Syria under Hafez al-Assad (pictured {{circa}} 1987) implemented Arabization policies in northern Syria.]]
Following Syria's independence, policies of Arab nationalism and attempts at forced [[Social:Arabization|Arabization]] became widespread in the country's north, to a large part directed against the Kurdish population.<ref name=HRW1996>{{cite journal|title=The Silenced Kurds|journal=Human Rights Watch|date=October 1996|volume=8|issue=4|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/Syria.htm}}</ref> The region received little investment or development from the central government and laws discriminated against Kurds owning property, driving cars, working in certain professions and forming political parties.<ref name="marcus">{{cite book|last1=Marcus|first1=Aliza|title=Blood and belief: the PKK and the Kurdish fight for independence|date=2009|publisher=New York University Press|location=New York|isbn=0814795870|page=61|edition=1. publ. in paperback.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6rcUCgAAQBAJ}}</ref> Property was routinely confiscated by government loansharks. After the Ba'ath Party seized power in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, non-Arab languages were forbidden at Syrian public schools. This compromised the education of students belonging to minorities like Kurds, Turkmen, and Assyrians.<ref>{{cite news|title=After 52-year ban, Syrian Kurds now taught Kurdish in schools|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/11/syria-kurdistan-self-governance-teach-kurdish-language.html|agency=Al-Monitor|date=6 November 2015}}</ref><ref name=syriasamer>{{cite book|last1=Abboud|first1=Samer N.|title=Syria|date=2015|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=0745698018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BPbrCgAAQBAJ}}</ref> Some groups like Armenians, Circassians, and Assyrians were able to compensate by establishing private schools, but Kurdish private schools were also banned.<ref name=HRW1996 /><ref name="CSmonitor-2005">{{cite web|title=A murder stirs Kurds in Syria|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0616/p01s03-wome.html|website=The Christian Science Monitor}}</ref> Northern Syrian hospitals lacked equipment for advanced treatment and instead patients had to be transferred outside the region. Numerous place names were arabized in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name=syriasamer /> In his report for the 12th session of the UN Human Rights Council titled ''Persecution and Discrimination against Kurdish Citizens in Syria'', the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights held that "Successive Syrian governments continued to adopt a policy of ethnic discrimination and national persecution against Kurds, completely depriving them of their national, democratic and human rights{{snd}} an integral part of human existence. The government imposed ethnically-based programs, regulations and exclusionary measures on various aspects of Kurds’ lives{{snd}} political, economic, social and cultural."<ref name="OHCHR-2009">{{cite web|title=Persecution and Discrimination against Kurdish Citizens in Syria, Report for the 12th session of the UN Human Rights Council|url=http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/session12/SY/KIS-KurdsinSyria-eng.pdf|website=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|date=2009}}</ref> Kurdish cultural festivals like Newroz were effectively banned.{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=13}}

In many instances, the Syrian government arbitrarily deprived ethnic Kurdish citizens of their citizenship. The largest such instance was a consequence of a census in 1962, which was conducted for exactly this purpose. 120,000 ethnic Kurdish citizens saw their citizenship arbitrarily taken away and became stateless.<ref name=HRW1996 />{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=13}}<ref name=Tejel>{{cite book|first=Jordi|last=Tejel|url=http://www.kurdipedia.org/books/74488.pdf|format=PDF|title=Syria's kurds history, politics and society|year=2009|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=0-203-89211-9|pages=X-X|edition=1. publ.|author2=Welle, Jane|access-date=7 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001038/http://www.kurdipedia.org/books/74488.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> This status was passed to the children of a "stateless" Kurdish father.<ref name=HRW1996 /> In 2010, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimated the number of such "stateless" Kurdish people in Syria at 300,000.<ref name="HRW-2010">{{cite web|title=HRW World Report 2010|url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report-2010|website=Human Rights Watch|date=2010}}</ref>{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=14}} In 1973, the Syrian authorities confiscated {{convert|750|km2|abbr=off}} of fertile agricultural land in [[Place:Al-Hasakah Governorate|Al-Hasakah Governorate]], which was owned and cultivated by tens of thousands of Kurdish citizens, and gave it to Arab families brought in from other provinces.<ref name="OHCHR-2009"/><ref name="CSmonitor-2005"/> In 2007, in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, {{convert|6,00|km2|abbr=off}} around Al-Malikiyah were granted to Arab families, while tens of thousands of Kurdish inhabitants of the villages concerned were evicted.<ref name="OHCHR-2009"/> These and other expropriations was part of the so-called "Arab Belt initiative" which aimed to change the demographic fabric of the resource-rich region.<ref name=HRW1996 /> Accordingly, relations between the Syrian government and the Syrian Kurdish population were tense.{{sfnp|Lister|2015|pp=13–14}}

The response of northern Syrian parties and movements to the policies of Hafez al-Assad's Ba'athist government varied greatly. Some parties opted for resistance, whereas others such as the Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=53}} and the Assyrian Democratic Party<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/the-assyrians-of-syria-history-and-prospets-by-mardean-isaac/|title=The Assyrians of Syria: History and Prospects|author=Mardean Isaac|work=Syria Comment|date=20 December 2015|accessdate=1 April 2017}}</ref> attempted to work within the system, hoping to bring about changes through soft pressure.{{sfnp|Sinclair|Kajjo|2013|p=180}} In general, parties that openly represented certain ethnic and religious minorities were not allowed to participate in elections, but their politicians were occasionally allowed to run as Independents.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=28}} Some Kurdish politicians won seats during the Syrian elections in 1990.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=67}} The government also recruited Kurdish officials, in particular as mayors, to ease ethnic relations. Regardless, northern Syrian ethnic groups remained deliberately underrepresented in the bureaucracy, and many Kurdish majority areas were run by Arab officials from other parts of the country.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=28}} Security and intelligence agencies worked hard to suppress dissidents, and most Kurdish parties remained underground movements. The government monitored, though generally allowed this "sub-state activity" because the northern minorities including the Kurds rarely caused unrest with the exception of the 2004 Qamishli riots.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=28}} The situation improved after the death of Hafez al-Assad and the election of his son, Bashar al-Assad, under whom the number of Kurdish officials grew.{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=30}}

Despite the Ba'athist internal policies which officially suppressed a Kurdish identity, the Syrian government allowed the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to set up training camps from 1980. The PKK was a militant Kurdish group led by Abdullah Öcalan which was waging an insurgency against Turkey. Syria and Turkey were hostile toward each other at the time, resulting in the use of the PKK as proxy group.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=28}}<ref name="gurcan"/> The party began to deeply influence the Syrian Kurdish population in the Afrin and Ayn al-Arab Districts, where it promoted Kurdish identity through music, clothing, popular culture, and social activities. In contrast, the PKK remained much less popular among Kurds in [[Place:Al-Hasakah Governorate|al-Hasakah Governorate]], where other Kurdish parties maintained more influence. Many Syrian Kurds developed a long-lasting sympathy for the PKK, and a large number, possibly more than 10,000, joined its insurgency in Turkey.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=28}} A rapprochement between Syria and Turkey brought an end to this phase in 1998, when Öcalan and the PKK were formally expelled from northern Syria. Regardless, the PKK maintained a cladestine presence in the region.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=28}}<ref name="gurcan"/>

In 2002, the PKK and allied groups organized the [[Organization:Kurdistan Communities Union|Kurdistan Communities Union]] (KCK) to implement Öcalan's ideas in various Middle Eastern countries. A KCK branch was also set up in Syria, led by Sofi Nureddin and known as "KCK-Rojava". In an attempt to outwardly distance the Syrian branch from the PKK,<ref name="gurcan"/> the Democratic Union Party (PYD) was established as ''de facto'' Syrian "successor" of the PKK in 2003.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=28}} The "People's Protection Units" (YPG), a paramilitary wing of the PYD, was also founded during this time, but remained dormant.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/read/meet-the-ypg|title=Meet the YPG, the Kurdish militia that doesn't want help from anyone|last=Gold|first=Danny|date=31 October 2012|quote=A member of YPG’s central command … said that the YPG formed in 2004 shortly after the Qamishlo riots, when a number of Kurdish youth realized that they needed to be able to defend themselves more efficiently. They did not officially declare themselves until the revolution started in 2011.|magazine=VICE|accessdate=9 October 2014}}</ref>

=== Establishment of de facto autonomy and war against ISIL ===
[[File:Demonstration in Qamishli against the Syrian government.jpg|thumb|Kurds, Assyrians, and Arabs demonstrate against the Syrian government in Qamishli, 6 January 2012]]

In 2011, a civil uprising erupted in Syria, prompting hasty government reforms. One of the issues addressed during this time was the status of Syria's stateless Kurds, as President Bashar al-Assad granted about 220,000 Kurds citizenship.{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=30}} In course of the next months, the crisis in Syria escalated into a civil war. The armed Syrian opposition seized control of several regions, while security forces were overstretched. In mid-2012 the government responded to this development by withdrawing its military from three mainly Kurdish areas<ref name=nrc15Oct2019/>{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=78}} and leaving control to local militias. This has been described as an attempt by the Assad regime to keep the Kurdish population out of the initial civil uprising and civil war.<ref name=nrc15Oct2019/>

{{multiple image
| align     = left 
| direction = vertical
| header    = Map of the territory of the region over time
| width     = 200
| image1    = Rojava february 2014.png
| alt1      = 
| image2    = Rojava june 2015.png
| alt2      = 
| image3    = Northern Syria - Rojava october 2016.png
| alt3      = 
| footer  =  Map of the expanded territory controlled by the region in February 2014, June 2015, and October 2016
}}

Existing underground Kurdish political parties, namely the PYD and the Kurdish National Council (KNC), joined to form the Kurdish Supreme Committee (KSC) and the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia was reestablished to defend Kurdish-inhabited areas in northern Syria. In July 2012, the YPG established control in the towns of Kobanî, Amuda and Afrin, and the Kurdish Supreme Committee established a joint leadership council to administer the towns. Soon YPG also gained control of the cities of Al-Malikiyah, Ras al-Ayn, al-Darbasiyah, and al-Muabbada and parts of [[Place:Al-Hasakah|Hasakah]] and [[Place:Qamishli|Qamishli]].<ref name=casualties>{{cite news|title=Armed Kurds Surround Syrian Security Forces in Qamishli |url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/syria/4984.html |accessdate=27 July 2012 |newspaper=Rudaw |date=22 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724224808/http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/syria/4984.html |archivedate=24 July 2012 }}</ref><ref name="girkelege">{{cite news|title=Girke Lege Becomes Sixth Kurdish City Liberated in Syria |url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/syria/4992.html |accessdate=27 July 2012 |newspaper=Rudaw |date=24 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121129100410/http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/syria/4992.html |archivedate=29 November 2012 }}</ref>{{sfnp|Lister|2015|pp=95–96}} Doing so, the YPG and its female wing, the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), mostly battled factions of the Free Syrian Army, and Islamist militias like the [[Religion:Al-Nusra Front|al-Nusra Front]] and Jabhat Ghuraba al-Sham. It also eclipsed rival Kurdish militias,{{sfnp|Lister|2015|pp=95–96, 153–154, 175}}<ref name=nrc15Oct2019>{{in lang|nl}} [https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/10/15/koerden-zijn-al-vele-malen-verraden-a3976826#/handelsblad/2019/10/16/#112 'Kurds stuck in a scrape from all sides' ('Koerden zitten van alle kanten klem')]. Carolien Roelants (Middle-East correspondent) in ''NRC Handelsblad'', 15 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.</ref> and absorbed some government loyalist groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/02/pyd-kurds-syria-regime-assad-autonomy.html|title=Syrian Kurds recruit regime loyalists to fight jihadists|author=Andrea Glioti|work=al-Monitor|date=13 February 2014|accessdate=6 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803143723/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/02/pyd-kurds-syria-regime-assad-autonomy.html|archive-date=3 August 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> According to researcher Charles R. Lister, the government's withdrawal and concurrent rise of the PYD "raised many eyebrows", as the relationship between the two entities was "highly contentious" at the time. The PYD was known to oppose certain government policies, but had also strongly criticised the Syrian opposition.{{sfnp|Lister|2015|pp=95–96}}

The Kurdish Supreme Committee was dissolved in 2013, when the PYD abandoned the coalition with the KNC and established the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) coalition.<ref name=leftism>{{cite web|url=http://harvardpolitics.com/online/radical-leftism-and-militant-islam/|title=In Syria, a Battle Between Radical Leftism and Militant Islam|publisher=Harvard Political Review|date=22 January 2017|accessdate=22 January 2017}}</ref> On 19 July 2013, the PYD announced that it had written a constitution for an "autonomous Syrian Kurdish region", and planned to hold referendum to approve the constitution in October 2013. Qamishli served as first ''de facto'' capital of the PYD-led governing body,{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=154}} which was official called the "Interim Transitional Administration".{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=89}} The announcement was widely denounced by both moderate as well as Islamist factions of the Syrian opposition.{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=154}} In January 2014, three areas under TEV-DEM rule declared their autonomy as cantons (now Afrin Region, Jazira Region and Euphrates Region) and an interim constitution was approved. The Syrian opposition and even the Kurdish parties belonging to the KNC condemned this move, regarding the canton system as illegal, authoritarian, and supportive of the Syrian government.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=93–94}} The PYD countered that the constitution was open to review and amendment, and that the KNC had been consulted on its drafting beforehand.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=94}} From September 2014 to spring 2015, the YPG forces in Kobanî Canton, supported by some Free Syrian Army militias and leftist international and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) volunteers, fought and finally repelled an assault by the [[Religion:Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL) during the Siege of Kobanî,{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=319}} and in the YPG's Tell Abyad offensive of summer of 2015, the regions of Jazira and Kobanî were connected.{{sfnp|Lister|2015|pp=357–358}}

[[File:Syrian civil war 01 12 2015.png|thumb|230px|Military situation in December 2015]]

After the YPG victory over ISIL in Kobanî in March 2015, an alliance between YPG and the {{wipe|United States}} was formed, which greatly worried [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]], because Turkey stated the YPG was a clone of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which Turkey (and the U.S. and the E.U.) designate as [[Social:Terrorism|terrorists]].<ref name=nrc15Oct2019/> In December 2015, the Syrian Democratic Council was created. On 17 March 2016, at a TEV-DEM-organized conference in Rmelan the establishment the ''Democratic Federation of Rojava – Northern Syria'' was declared in the areas they controlled in Northern Syria.<ref>{{cite news|title=Syria’s Kurds declare de-facto federal region in north|url=http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2016/Syria%27s_Kurds_declare_de-facto_federal_region_in_north/id-882b101de1024e63bd9525bb32c708e3|accessdate=17 January 2017|agency=Associated Press|date=17 March 2016}}</ref> The declaration was quickly denounced by both the Syrian government and the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.<ref name=AlJazeeraFederal/>

In March 2016, Hediya Yousef and Mansur Selum were elected co-chairpersons for the executive committee to organise a constitution for the region, to replace the 2014 constitution.<ref name=recognition/> Yousef said the decision to set up a federal government was in large part driven by the expansion of territories captured from Islamic State: "Now, after the liberation of many areas, it requires us to go to a wider and more comprehensive system that can embrace all the developments in the area, that will also give rights to all the groups to represent themselves and to form their own administrations."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-federalism-idUSKCN0X90M9|title=Syrian Kurds in six-month countdown to federalism|date=12 April 2016|accessdate=19 June 2016}}</ref> In July 2016, a draft for the new constitution was presented, based on the principles of the 2014 constitution, mentioning all ethnic groups living in Northern Syria and addressing their cultural, political and linguistic rights.<ref name=qamishli>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/07/syrian-kurds-declare-qamishli-capital-new-federal-system/|title=Syrian Kurds declare Qamishli as capital for the new federal system|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-07-05|accessdate=2016-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708143406/http://aranews.net/2016/07/syrian-kurds-declare-qamishli-capital-new-federal-system/|archive-date=8 July 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=new-constitution>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/07/north-syria-rojava-kurdish-federation-constitution.html|title=After approving constitution, what's next for Syria's Kurds?|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=22 July 2016|accessdate=22 July 2016}}</ref> The main political opposition to the constitution have been Kurdish nationalists, in particular the KNC, who have different ideological aspirations than the TEV-DEM coalition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2016/07/kurds-arabs-assyrians-talk-enab-baladi-federal-constitution-syria/|title=Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians talk to Enab Baladi about the "Federal Constitution" in Syria|date=26 July 2016|accessdate=26 July 2016}}</ref> On 28 December 2016, after a meeting of the 151-member Syrian Democratic Council in Rmelan, a new constitution was resolved; despite objections by 12 Kurdish parties, the region was renamed the ''Democratic Federation of Northern Syria'', removing the name "Rojava".<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-constitution-idUSKBN14H0X3?il=0 |title = Syrian Kurds, allies set to approve new government blueprint |agency = Reuters |date=28 December 2016 }}</ref>

===Turkish military operations and occupation===

Turkey had been alarmed about the presence of PKK-related forces at its southern border since 2012, when the first YPG pockets appeared and grew concerned when the YPG entered into an alliance with the US to oppose ISIS forces in the region.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/world/europe/Turkey-Kurds-Erdogan.html|title=The World Condemns Erdogan's War on Kurds. But Turkey Applauds.|first=Patrick|last=Kingsley|date=16 October 2019|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> The Turkish government's refusal to allow aid to be sent to the YPG during the Siege of Kobanî and the resultant Kurdish riots led to the breakdown of the 2013–2015 peace process in July 2015. This led to the revival of an armed conflict between the PKK and Turkish forces. The YPG's mother organisation the PYD reportedly provided the PKK with militants, explosives, arms and ammunition according to the Turkish pro-government ''Daily Sabah''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/war-on-terror/2019/07/24/interpol-removes-top-pkk-affiliated-figure-from-its-red-notice-list|title=Interpol removes top PKK-affiliated figure from its red notice list|first=|last=|date=24 July 2019|newspaper=Daily Sabah}}</ref>

The first Turkish military operation against Rojava was Operation Euphrates Shield which began in August 2016. The objective of the operation was to prevent the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from linking Afrin Canton (now Afrin Region) with the rest of Rojava and to capture Manbij from the SDF. Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces were able to successfully prevent the linking of Rojava's cantons and captured all settlements in Jarabulus previously under the control of the SDF.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yeniasir.com.tr/gundem/2016/08/31/tsk-32-koy-terorist-unsurlardan-temizlendi|title=TSK: 32 Köy Terörist Unsurlardan Temizlendi|work=Yeni Asır|date=31 August 2016}}</ref> The operation also led to the handover of a part of the region to the Syrian government to act as a buffer zone against Turkey by the SDF.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-kurdish-led-sdf-handover-huge-section-territory-saa/|title=BREAKING: Kurdish-led SDF to handover huge section of territory to SAA|first=Andrew|last=Illingworth|date=2 March 2017|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Manbij was unable to be captured and remained under SDF control.

In early 2018 the second Turkish military operation against Rojava, Operation Olive Branch was launched alongside Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army with the intention of capturing the Kurdish-majority Afrin and to oust the YPG/SDF from region.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 January 2018 |title=Terrified children, empty streets in Syria's Afrin as Turkey attacks |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20180120-terrified-children-empty-streets-syrias-afrin-turkey-attacks |work=France24}}</ref> Afrin Canton, a subdivision of the region, was occupied and over 100,000 civilians were displaced and relocated to Afrin Region's Shahba Canton which remained under SDF, then joint SDF-Syrian Arab Army (SAA) control. The remaining forces of the SDF in the region has since launched an ongoing insurgency against the Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.rudaw.net/english/analysis/19022019 |title = The significance of the Shahba Canton for the YPG |first = Paul |last = Iddon |publisher = Rudaw Media Network |date=19 February 2019 |access-date=24 October 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Barış Pınarı Hârekatı sonrası Resulayn (Serêkanî) bombalanıyor.jpg|thumb|Ras al-Ayn shelling during the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria.]]

The ongoing 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named by Turkey as Operation Peace Spring is the third Turkish military operation against Rojava conducted by Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces against the SDF. The operation was launched on 9 October when the {{wipe|Turkish Air Force}} launched airstrikes on border towns.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/09/turkey-launches-military-operation-in-northern-syria-erdogan|title=Turkey launches military operation in northern Syria|work=The Guardian|first=Bethan|last=McKernan|date=9 October 2019}}</ref> Prior to the operation, on 6 October President Donald Trump had ordered American troops to withdraw from northeastern Syria where the United States had been providing support to the SDF.<ref>{{cite news |title=Trump makes way for Turkey operation against Kurds in Syria |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49956698?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cp7r8vgl2y7t/kurds&link_location=live-reporting-story |accessdate=10 October 2019 |work=BBC News |date=7 October 2019}}</ref> Journalists called the withdrawal "a serious betrayal to the Kurds" as well as "a catastrophic blow to US credibility as an ally and Washington's standing on the world stage", with a journalist stating that "this was one of the worst US foreign policy disasters since the Iraq War".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.sky.com/story/us-betrayal-of-kurds-destroys-the-wests-credibility-for-years-to-come-11835611|title=US betrayal of Kurds destroys the West's credibility for years to come | website=Sky News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/trump-syria-move-delivers-blow-credibility-worldwide-191008232132422.html|title=Trump's Syria move 'delivers a blow to US credibility worldwide'| website=Al Jazeera}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/18/opinion/trump-kurds-syria.html|title=Trump’s Gut, and the Gutting of American Credibility| website=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/trump-s-decision-syria-has-already-turned-foreign-policy-disaster-n1065691|title=Trump's decision on Syria has already turned into a foreign policy disaster| website=NBC News}}</ref> Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces captured 68 settlements, including Ras al-Ayn, Tell Abyad, Suluk, Mabrouka and Manajir during the 9-day operation before a 120-hour ceasefire was announced.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.syriahr.com/?p=342267|title=قوات النظام تبدأ دخول مدينة منبج شمال شرق حلب بالتزامن مع استمرار انسحاب قوات التحالف من المدينة • المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان|date=15 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-army-enters-strategic-city-in-al-raqqa-with-heavy-equipment-video/|title=Syrian Army enters strategic city in Al-Raqqa with heavy equipment: video|date=15 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-10/14/c_138471125.htm|title=Syrian army enters Kurdish-held city, air base to help counter Turkish assault|website=xinhuanet.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-army-moves-to-confront-turkish-forces-as-us-withdraws/|title=Syrian army moves to confront Turkish forces as US withdraws|website=timesofisrael.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://time.com/5703009/syrian-forces-border-town-turkish-plans/|title=Syrian forces enter key border town|date=16 October 2019|agency=Times}}</ref> The operation was condemned by the international community<ref>{{cite news |title=India slams Turkey for its 'unilateral military offensive' in northeast Syria {{!}} India News – Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-slams-turkey-for-its-unilateral-military-offensive-in-northeast-syria/articleshow/71520852.cms |accessdate=10 October 2019 |work=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref> and human rights violations by Turkish forces were also reported.<ref>{{cite web |title=Damning evidence of war crimes by Turkish forces and allies in Syria |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/10/syria-damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-and-other-violations-by-turkish-forces-and-their-allies/ |website=Amnesty International |date=18 October 2019}}</ref> Turkish president [[Biography:Recep Tayyip Erdoğan|Erdoğan]] had for months warned that the continued presence of the YPG on the Turkish-Syrian border despite the Northern Syria Buffer Zone was unacceptable. The launch of the operation was thus labelled as "no surprise" by media outlets.<ref name=nrc15Oct2019/> As unintended consequence of the Turkish operation, the worldwide popularity and legitimacy of the northeastern Syrian administration, grew, and several PYD and YPG representatives became internationally well known to an unprecedented degree. These events caused tensions within the KCK, however, as differences between the PKK and PYD leadership emerged. The northeastern Syrian administration took a "hawkish line" in opposition to the Turkish offensive, determined to maintain the regional autonomy and hoping for a continued alliance with the United States. In contrast, the PKK central command had become willing to restart negotiations with Turkey, distrusted the United States, and regarded the international success of its leftist ideology as more important than the survival of Rojava as administrative entity.<ref name="gurcan"/>

== Politics ==
[[File:De facto cantons of Rojava.png|thumb|200px|The Regions of North and East Syria since September 2018.]]
The political system of the region is based on its adopted constitution, officially titled "Charter of the Social Contract".<ref name=utopia/><ref name=charter>{{cite web|url=https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/charter-of-the-social-contract/|title=2014 Charter of the Social Contract of Rojava|publisher=Peace in Kurdistan|date=29 January 2014|accessdate=18 June 2016}}</ref> The constitution was ratified on 9 January 2014; it provides that all residents of the region shall enjoy fundamental rights such as [[Social:Gender equality|gender equality]] and freedom of religion.<ref name=utopia/> It also provides for property rights.<ref name="Glioti">Andrea Glioti, [http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/08/rojava-libertarian-myth-scrutiny-160804083743648.html Rojava: A libertarian myth under scrutiny], Al-Jazeera (6 August 2016).</ref> The region's system of community government has [[Philosophy:Direct democracy|direct democratic]] aspirations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rudaw.net/english/opinion/29012015|title=A Very Different Ideology in the Middle East|publisher=Rudaw}}</ref>

A September 2015 report in ''{{wipe|The New York Times}}'' observed:<ref name=utopia />

{{quote|"For a former diplomat like me, I found it confusing: I kept looking for a hierarchy, the singular leader, or signs of a government line, when, in fact, there was none; there were just groups. There was none of that stifling obedience to the party, or the obsequious deference to the "big man"—a form of government all too evident just across the borders, in Turkey to the north, and the Kurdish regional government of Iraq to the south. The confident assertiveness of young people was striking.}}

However, a 2016 paper from Chatham House<ref name="Khalaf">{{cite web|last1=Khalaf|first1=Rana|title=Governing Rojava Layers of Legitimacy in Syria|url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/publications/research/2016-12-08-governing-rojava-khalaf.pdf|publisher=The Royal Institute of International Affairs}}</ref> stated that power is heavily centralized in the hands of the Democratic Union Party (PYD). Abdullah Öcalan, a Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader imprisoned in İmralı, [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]], has become an iconic figure in the region whose [[Earth:Democratic confederalism|libertarian socialist ideology]] has shaped the region's society and politics through the ruling TEV-DEM coalition, a political alliance including the PYD and a number of smaller parties. Before TEV-DEM, the region was governed by the Kurdish Supreme Committee, a coalition of the PYD and the Kurdish National Council (KNC), which was dissolved by the PYD in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mesop.de/2012/07/27/kurdish-supreme-committee-in-syria-holds-first-meeting/|title=Kurdish Supreme Committee in Syria Holds First Meeting|publisher=Rudaw|date=27 July 2012|accessdate=6 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="Rudaw">{{cite web|url=http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2012/7/syriakurd563.htm|title=Now Kurds are in charge of their fate: Syrian Kurdish official|publisher=Rudaw|date=29 July 2012|website=Ekurd.net |accessdate=6 January 2014}}</ref><ref name=utopia/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.voanews.com/a/writings-of-obscure-american-leftist-drive-kurdish-forces-to-syria/3678233.html|title=Writings of Obscure American Leftist Drive Kurdish Forces in Syria|work=Voice of America|date=16 January 2017}}</ref> Besides the parties represented in TEV-DEM and the KNC, several other political groups operate in northern Syria. Several of these, such as the Kurdish National Alliance in Syria,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enabbaladi.net/archives/64962|title="The Kurdish National Alliance," a new political entity in the column|work=Enab Baladi|date=15 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.hawarnews.com/high-electoral-commission-disclosed-local-administration-elections-outcomes/ |title=High Electoral Commission disclosed Local Administration elections’ outcomes |author=|publisher=Hawar News Agency |date=5 December 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208042809/http://en.hawarnews.com/high-electoral-commission-disclosed-local-administration-elections-outcomes/ |archivedate=8 December 2017 }}</ref> the Democratic Conservative Party,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://buyerpress.com/?p=56143 |title="المحافظين الديمقراطي" حزبٌ جديد يُعلن عن نفسه في قامشلو |trans-title=The Democratic Conservatives are a new party declaring itself in Qamishlo |work=buyer |language=Arabic |date=28 August 2017 |accessdate=25 September 2019 }}</ref> the Assyrian Democratic Party,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.hawarnews.com/electoral-commission-publish-video-of-elections-2nd-stage/ |title=Electoral Commission publish video of elections 2nd stage |work=Hawar News Agency |date=25 November 2017 |accessdate=1 July 2018 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032359/http://en.hawarnews.com/electoral-commission-publish-video-of-elections-2nd-stage/ |archivedate=1 December 2017 }}</ref> and others actively participate in governing the region.

The politics of the region has been described as having "libertarian transnational aspirations" influenced by the PKK's shift toward [[Social:Anarchism|anarchism]], but also includes various "tribal, ethno-sectarian, capitalist and patriarchal structures."<ref name="Glioti"/> The region has a "co-governance" policy in which each position at each level of government in the region includes a "female equivalent of equal authority" to a male.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/magazine/a-dream-of-utopia-in-hell.html|title=A Dream of Secular Utopia in ISIS' Backyard|last=|first=|date=29 November 2015|work=New York Times|accessdate=20 October 2019}}</ref> Similarly, there are aspirations for equal political representation of all ethno-religious components – Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians being the most sizeable ones. This has been compared this to the [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanese]] confessionalist system, which is based on that country's major religions.<ref name="Glioti"/><ref name="syriahr2015">{{cite web|title=YPG, backed by al-Khabour Guards Forces, al-Sanadid army and the Syriac Military Council, expels IS out of more than 230 towns, villages and farmlands |url=http://www.syriahr.com/en/2015/05/ypg-backed-by-al-khabour-guards-forces-al-sanadid-army-and-the-syriac-military-council-expels-is-out-of-more-than-230-towns-villages-and-farmlands/ |website=Syrian Observatory For Human Rights |accessdate=28 February 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529003959/http://www.syriahr.com/en/2015/05/ypg-backed-by-al-khabour-guards-forces-al-sanadid-army-and-the-syriac-military-council-expels-is-out-of-more-than-230-towns-villages-and-farmlands/ |archivedate=29 May 2015 |date=28 May 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="opendem">{{cite web|last1=Gupta|first1=Rahila|title=Rojava’s commitment to Jineolojî: the science of women|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/rahila-gupta/rojava-s-commitment-to-jineoloj-science-of-women|website=openDemocracy|accessdate=28 February 2017|language=en|date=9 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="Janes360">{{cite web|title=SDF plays central role in Syrian civil war|url=http://www.janes360.com/images/assets/333/57333/SDF_plays_central_role_in_Syrian_civil_war__1_.pdf|website=IHS Jane's 360|publisher=IHS|accessdate=28 February 2017|pages=3–4|date=20 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="opendem"/>

The PYD-led rule has triggered protests in various areas since they first captured territory. In 2019, residents of tens of villages in the eastern [[Place:Deir ez-Zor Governorate|Deir ez-Zor Governorate]] demonstrated for two weeks, regarding the new regional leadership as Kurdish-dominated and non-inclusive, citing arrests of suspected ISIL members, looting of oil, lack of infrastructure as well as forced conscription into the SDF as reasons. The protests resulted in deaths and injuries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.apnews.com/3314a11ddb2b40fdbfbe689d812fa080|title=Anti-Kurdish protests in east Syria could endanger US plans|agency=Associated Press|date=2019-09-05|accessdate=2019-10-13}}</ref> It has been stated that the new political structures created in the region have been based on top-down structures, which have placed obstacles for the return of refugees, created dissent as well as a lack of trust between the SDF and the local population.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kheder Khaddour|title=BACK TO WHAT FUTURE? What Remains for Syria’s Displaced People |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/files/CMEC_69_Khaddour_final.pdf|year=2018|publisher=Carnegie Middle East Center|isbn=|pages=13–14}}</ref>

Qamishli initially served as the ''de facto'' capital of the administration,{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=154}}<ref name=qamishli/> but the area's governing body later relocated to Ayn Issa.<ref name=kurdistan24newadmin/>

===Administrative divisions===
Article 8 of the 2014 constitution stipulates that "All Cantons in the autonomous regions are founded on the principle of local self-government. Cantons may freely elect their representatives and representative bodies, and may pursue their rights insofar as it does not contravene the articles of the Charter."<ref name=charter/>

The cantons were later reorganized into regions with subordinate cantons/provinces, areas, districts and communes. The first communal elections in the region were held on 22 September 2017. 12,421 candidates competed for around 3,700 communal positions during the elections, which were organized by the region's High Electoral Commission.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/hilbijartin.org/ |title=المفوضية العليا للانتخابات - Komseriya Bilind Ya Hilbijartinan|website=Facebook.com|accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds/syrians-vote-in-kurdish-led-regions-of-north-idUSKCN1BX1PY?il=0|title=Syrians vote in Kurdish-led regions of north|publisher=Reuters|author=Rodi Said|date=22 September 2017}}</ref> Elections for the councils of the Jazira Region, Euphrates Region and Afrin Region were held in December 2017.<ref name=electionsregions>{{cite web |title=Electoral Commission publish video of elections 2nd stage {{!}} ANHA |url=https://en.hawarnews.com/electoral-commission-publish-video-of-elections-2nd-stage/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032359/https://en.hawarnews.com/electoral-commission-publish-video-of-elections-2nd-stage/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 December 2017 |website=hawarnews.com |date=1 December 2017}}</ref> Most of Afrin Region was occupied by Turkish-led forces in early 2018, though the administrative division continued to operate from Tell Rifaat which is under joint YPG-Syrian Army control.<ref name=hawarnewsANHA/><ref>{{cite news| title = YPG attacks FSA-controlled Azaz province | work = Daily Sabah| url = https://www.dailysabah.com/war-on-terror/2019/09/18/ypg-attacks-fsa-controlled-azaz-province |quote = "The eastern part of Syria's Afrin region is {{sic|comprised |hide=y|of}} two districts: Tel Rifaat, currently occupied by the terrorist group [i. e. YPG], and Azaz, which remains under the control of Syrian opposition forces."| date = 18 September 2019 |access-date=20 October 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title = The Fate of Tel Rifaat Hangs in the Balance |author= Baraa Sabri | work = Washington Institute| url = https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/the-fate-of-tel-rifaat-hangs-in-the-balance |quote = "Whereas before the greater Afrin region was under Kurdish occupation with both Arab majorities and Kurdish majorities, the situation reversed into a complete Turkish occupation of entirely Kurdish areas as well as the initially disputed Arab majority areas. Meanwhile, Tel Rifaat and Menagh remained under YPG control with semi-official Russian protection. [...] The Kurdish battalions that remained in the Tel Rifaat area and guarded the camps of displaced Kurds from Afrin have lived in a tense environment, well within reach of the Turkish pincers."| date = 17 July 2019 |access-date=20 October 2019 }}</ref>

On 6 September 2018, during a meeting of the Syrian Democratic Council in Ayn Issa, a new name for the region was adopted, the "Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria", encompassing the Euphrates, Afrin, and Jazira regions as well as the local civil councils in the regions of Raqqa, Manbij, Tabqa, and Deir ez-Zor. During the meeting, a 70-member "General Council for the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria" was formed.<ref name=hawarnewsANHA>{{cite web |title=Final statement of Autonomous Administration of North , East Syria - ANHA {{!}} Ajansa Nûçeyan a Hawar |url=http://hawarnews.com/en/haber/final-statement-of-autonomous-administration-of-north-east-syria-h3608.html |quote=Autonomous Administration of North East Syria}}</ref><ref name=kurdistan24newadmin>{{cite web |title=New administration formed for northeastern Syria |url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/c9e03dab-6265-4a9a-91ee-ea8d2a93c657 |website=Kurdistan24 |language=en|quote= By Wladimir van Wilgenburg}}</ref><ref name=hawarnewsaminomar>{{cite web |title=Amina Omar : Autonomous Administration its purpose to serve people |url=http://hawarnews.com/en/haber/amina-omar-autonomous-administration-its-purpose-to-serve-people-consolidation-of-administrations--h3599.html |website=hawarnews.com |quote=Consolidation of administrations &nbsp; - ANHA {{!}} Ajansa Nûçeyan a Hawar}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2" |Regions
! Official name (languages)
! Prime Ministers
! Deputy Prime Ministers
|-
|[[File:Coat of Arms of the Cizire Canton.svg|40px|Jazira]]
|Jazira Region
|{{vunblist|{{native name|ar|إقليم الجزيرة}}|{{native name|ku|Herêma Cizîrê}}|{{native name|syc|ܦܢܝܬܐ ܕܓܙܪܬܐ}}}}
|Akram Hesso
|Elizabeth Gawrie<br/>Hussein Taza Al Azam
|-
|[[File:Kantona Kobanê (Emblem).svg|40px|Euphrates]]
|Euphrates Region
|{{vunblist|{{native name|ar|إقليم الفرات}}|{{native name|ku|Herêma Firatê}}|{{native name|syc|ܦܢܝܬܐ ܕܦܪܬ}}}}
|Enver Muslim
|Bêrîvan Hesen<br/>Xalid Birgil
|-
|[[File:Coat of Arms of the Afrin Canton.svg|40px|Afrin]]
|Afrin Region<br>({{small|in exile}})
|{{vunblist|{{native name|ar|إقليم عفرين}}|{{native name|ku|Herêma Efrînê}}|{{native name|syc|ܦܢܝܬܐ ܕܥܦܪܝܢ}}}}
|Hêvî Îbrahîm
|Remzi Şêxmus<br/>Ebdil Hemid Mistefa
|-
|[[File:Raqqacivilcouncil.jpg|40px|Raqqa]]
|Raqqa Region
|{{vunblist|{{native name|ar|إقليم الرقة}}|{{native name|ku|Herêma Reqayê}}|{{native name|syc|ܦܢܝܬܐ ܕܪܩܗ}}}}
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|[[File:Tabqacivilcouncil.jpg|40px|Tabqa]]
|Tabqa Region
|{{vunblist|{{native name|ar|إقليم الطبقة}}|{{native name|ku|Herêma Tebqayê}}|{{native name|syc|ܦܢܝܬܐ ܕܛܒܩܗ}}}}
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|[[File:Manbijcivilcouncil.jpg|40px|Manbij]]
|Manbij Region
|{{vunblist|{{native name|ar|إقليم منبج}}|{{native name|ku|Herêma Minbicê}}|{{native name|syc|ܦܢܝܬܐ ܕܡܒܘܓ}}}}
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|[[File:Deirezzorcivilcouncil.jpg|40px|Deir ez-Zor]]
|Deir ez-Zor Region
|{{vunblist|{{native name|ar|إقليم دير الزور}}|{{native name|ku|Herêma Dêra Zorê}}|{{native name|syc|ܦܢܝܬܐ ܕܕܝܪ ܐܠ ܙܘܪ}}}}
|N/A
|N/A
|}

=== Legislature ===
[[File:Seal of MSD.png|thumb|120px|Seal of the Syrian Democratic Council]]

In December 2015, during a meeting of the region's representatives in Al-Malikiyah, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) was established to serve as the political representative of the Syrian Democratic Forces.<ref name=Congress>{{cite web|url=http://www.kurdishinfo.com/derik-congress-decides-to-establish-democratic-syria-assembly|title=Dêrîk congress decides to establish Democratic Syria Assembly|work=Firat News Agency|publisher=kurdishinfo|accessdate=2 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919071745/http://www.kurdishinfo.com/derik-congress-decides-to-establish-democratic-syria-assembly|archive-date=19 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The co-leaders selected to lead the SDC at its founding were prominent human rights activist Haytham Manna and TEV-DEM Executive Board member Îlham Ehmed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://syrianobserver.com/EN/News/30279/Haytham_Manna_Elected_Joint_Chairman_Syrian_Democratic_Council|title=Haytham Manna Elected Joint Chairman of Syrian Democratic Council|publisher=The Syrian Observer|date=2015-10-14|accessdate=2016-05-26}}</ref><ref name=assembly>{{cite web|url=http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/executive-board-of-democratic-syria-assembly-elected |title=Executive Board of Democratic Syria Assembly elected |publisher=Ajansa Nûçeyan a Firatê English |accessdate=2 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220074139/http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/executive-board-of-democratic-syria-assembly-elected |archivedate=20 December 2015 }}</ref> The SDC appoints an Executive Council which deal with the economy, agriculture, natural resources, and foreign affairs.<ref name=Econ1/> General elections were planned for 2014 and 2018,<ref name=Econ1/> but this was postponed due to fighting.

==Education, media, and culture==
===School===

Under the rule of the Ba'ath Party, school education consisted of only [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]] language public schools, supplemented by Assyrian private confessional schools.<ref>{{citation |surname1=David Commins|surname2= David W. Lesch|title=Historical Dictionary of Syria|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=239|isbn=978-0-8108-7966-9 |date=2013-12-05|language=German|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wpBWAgAAQBAJ}}</ref> In 2015, the region's administration introduced primary education in the [[Social:First language|native language]] (either Kurdish or Arabic) and mandatory bilingual education (Kurdish and Arabic) for public schools,{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=109–110}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://anfenglish.com/culture/education-in-rojava-after-the-revolution|title=Education in Rojava after the revolution|publisher=ANF|date=2016-05-16|accessdate=2016-06-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/11/syria-kurdistan-self-governance-teach-kurdish-language.html|title=After 52-year ban, Syrian Kurds now taught Kurdish in schools|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=2015-11-06|accessdate=2016-05-18}}</ref> with English as a mandatory third language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/290820151/ |title=Rojava schools to re-open with PYD-approved curriculum|publisher=Rudaw|date=2015-08-29|accessdate=2016-05-18}}</ref> There are ongoing disagreements and negotiations over curriculums with the Syrian central government,{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=111}}<ref name=syriaclanguage /> which generally still pays the teachers in public schools.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=109–110}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2015/10/kurds-introduce-own-curriculum-at-schools-of-rojava-2/|title=Kurds introduce own curriculum at schools of Rojava|publisher=ARA News|date=2015-10-02|accessdate=2016-05-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://new-compass.net/articles/revolutionary-education-rojava|title=Revolutionary Education in Rojava |publisher=New Compass|date=2015-02-17|accessdate=2016-05-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://kurdishquestion.com/oldsite/index.php/kurdistan/west-kurdistan/education-system-in-rojava/538-education-system-in-rojava.html/|title=Education in Rojava: Academy and Pluralistic versus University and Monisma|publisher=Kurdishquestion|date=2014-01-12|accessdate=2016-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510103830/http://kurdishquestion.com/oldsite/index.php/kurdistan/west-kurdistan/education-system-in-rojava/538-education-system-in-rojava.html/|archive-date=10 May 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In August 2016, the Ourhi Centre was founded by the Assyrian community in the city of Qamishli, to educate teachers in order to make Syriac-Aramaic an additional language in public schools in Jazira Region,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/08/syriac-christians-revive-ancient-language-despite-war-2/|title=Syriac Christians revive ancient language despite war|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-08-19|accessdate=2016-08-19}}</ref> which then started in the 2016/17 academic year.<ref name=syriaclanguage>{{cite web|url=http://syrianobserver.com/EN/News/31729/Hassakeh_Syriac_Language_Be_Taught_PYD_controlled_Schools/|title=Hassakeh: Syriac Language to Be Taught in PYD-controlled Schools|publisher=The Syrian Observer|date=3 October 2016|accessdate=2016-10-05}}</ref> According to the region's Education Committee, in 2016/2017 "three curriculums have replaced the old one, to include teaching in three languages: Kurdish, Arabic and Syriac."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/10/rojava-administration-launches-new-education-system-kurdish-arabic-assyrian-2/|title=Rojava administration launches new curriculum in Kurdish, Arabic and Assyrian|publisher=ARA News|date=7 October 2016|accessdate=2016-10-07}}</ref> In August 2017 Galenos Yousef Issa of the Ourhi Centre announced that the Syriac curriculum would be expanded to grade 6, which earlier had been limited to grade 3, with teachers being assigned to Syriac schools in [[Place:Al-Hasakah|Al-Hasakah]], Al-Qahtaniyah and Al-Malikiyah.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.hawarnews.com/syriacs-will-study-their-language-in-schools-this-year/|title=Syriacs will study their language in schools this year – ANHA|website=en.hawarnews.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.hawarnews.com/the-syriacs-are-taught-their-language-for-the-first-time/|title=The Syriacs are taught their language for the first time – ANHA|website=en.hawarnews.com|access-date=25 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924094715/http://en.hawarnews.com/the-syriacs-are-taught-their-language-for-the-first-time/|archive-date=24 September 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> At the start of the academic year 2018–2019, the curricula in Kurdish and Arabic had been expanded to grades 1–12 and Syriac to grades 1–9. "Jineology" classes had also been introduced.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is reality of educational process in North Syria, new year's curricula? - ANHA {{!}} Ajansa Nûçeyan a Hawar |url=http://hawarnews.com/en/haber/what-is-reality-of-educational-process-in-north-syria-new-years-curricula-h4282.html |website=hawarnews.com}}</ref> In general, schools are encouraged to teach the administration's "uptopian doctrine" which promotes diversity, democracy, and the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan.{{sfnp|Zabad|2017|p=219}}{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=110–111}} Local reactions to the changes to the school system and curriculum were mixed. While many praised the new system because it encouraged tolerance and allowed Kurds and other minorities to be taught in their own languages,{{sfnp|Zabad|2017|p=219}} others have criticised it as ''de facto'' compulsory indoctrination.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=111–112}}

The federal, regional and local administrations in the region put much emphasis on promoting libraries and educational centers, to facilitate learning and social and artistic activities. Examples are the Nahawand Center for Developing Children's Talents in Amuda (est. 2015) and the Rodî û Perwîn Library in Kobani (May 2016).<ref name=k24education>{{cite web|url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/dfa4b335-fe1c-4a3c-b5b6-7bc5848e9e97/Kurds-establish-university-in-Rojava-amid-Syrian-instability|title=Kurds establish university in Rojava amid Syrian instability|publisher=Kurdistan24|date=2016-07-07|accessdate=2016-07-07}}</ref>

For Assyrian private confessional schools there had at first been no changes.<ref name=syriaclanguage /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aina.org/news/20151221023437.htm|title=The Assyrians of Syria: History and Prospects|publisher=AINA|date=2015-12-21|accessdate=2016-05-18}}</ref> However, in August 2018 it was reported that the region's authorities was trying to implement its own Syriac curriculum in private Christian schools that have been continuing to use an Arabic curriculum with limited Syriac classes approved by the Assad regime and originally developed by Syrian Education Ministry in cooperation with Christian clergy in the 1950s. The threatening of the closure of schools not complying with this resulted in protests erupting in Qamishli.<ref>{{cite web |title=Christians, Kurds At Odds Over Syria School Curriculum |url=https://alshahidwitness.com/christians-kurds-syria-curriculum/ |website=Al Shahid News |date=13 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Why Did the Kurdish "Self-Management" Close the Syriac Private School in Eastern al-Hasakah? |url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2018/08/why-did-the-kurdish-self-management-close-the-syriac-private-school-in-eastern-al-hasakah/ |website=Enab Baladi |date=11 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=By Rudaw |title=Rojava authority’s efforts to provide Syriac education met with resistance |url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/300820181 |publisher=Rudaw}}</ref> A deal was later reached in September 2018 between the region's authorities and the local Syriac Orthodox archbishopric, where the two first grades in these schools would learn the region's Syriac curriculum and grades three to six would continue to learn the Damascus approved curriculum.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Wladimir van Wilgenburg |title=Syrian Kurds open church in Kobani, once besieged by IS |url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/36aacc2b-4dbd-4d85-9d36-68c1a15aaffb |publisher=Kurdistan24 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Delil Souleiman |title=Syriacs protest Kurdish authorities over Syria school curriculum |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/kurds-christians-split-over-syria-school-curriculum-041427147.html |publisher=Yahoo News}}</ref>

===Higher education===

While there was no institution of tertiary education on the territory of the region at the onset of the Syrian Civil War, an increasing number of such institutions have been established by the regional administrations in the region since.

* In September 2014, the [[Organization:Mesopotamian Social Sciences Academy|Mesopotamian Social Sciences Academy]] in Qamishli started classes.<ref name=utopia/> More such academies designed under a libertarian socialist academic philosophy and concept are in the process of founding or planning.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://new-compass.net/articles/revolutionary-education-rojava|title=Revolutionary Education in Rojava|publisher=New Compass|date=2015-02-17|accessdate=2016-05-18}}</ref>
* In August 2015, the traditionally-designed University of Afrin in Afrin started teaching, with initial programs in literature, engineering and economics, including institutes for medicine, topographic engineering, music and theater, business administration and the Kurdish language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/05/kurds-rojava-afrin-first-university-ideology-ocalan.html|title=Syria's first Kurdish university attracts controversy as well as students|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=2016-05-18|accessdate=2016-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160521193644/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/05/kurds-rojava-afrin-first-university-ideology-ocalan.html|archive-date=21 May 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* In July 2016, Jazira Canton Board of Education started the [[Organization:University of Rojava|University of Rojava]] in Qamishli, with faculties for Medicine, Engineering, Sciences, and Arts and Humanities. Programs taught include health, oil, computer and agricultural engineering; physics, chemistry, history, psychology, geography, mathematics and primary school teaching and Kurdish literature.<ref name=k24education/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anfenglish.com/kurdistan/university-of-rojava-to-be-opened|title='University of Rojava' to be opened|publisher=ANF|date=2016-07-04|accessdate=2016-07-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104144550/http://www.anfenglish.com/kurdistan/university-of-rojava-to-be-opened|archive-date=4 January 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Its language of instruction is Kurdish, and with an agreement with Paris 8 University in France for cooperation, the university opened registration for students in the academic year 2016–2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/08/rojava-university-seeks-eliminate-constraints-education-syrias-kurdish-region/|title=Rojava university seeks to eliminate constraints on education in Syria’s Kurdish region|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-08-15|accessdate=2016-08-15}}</ref>
* In August 2016 Jazira Canton police forces took control of the remaining parts of [[Place:Al-Hasakah|Hasakah]] city, which included the Hasakah campus of the Arabic-language [[Organization:Al-Furat University|Al-Furat University]], and with mutual agreement the institution continues to be operated under the authority of the Damascus government's Ministry of Higher Education.

===Media===

Incorporating the [[Philosophy:Universal Declaration of Human Rights|Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as other internationally recognized human rights conventions, the 2014 Constitution of North and East Syria guarantees [[Philosophy:Freedom of speech|freedom of speech]] and freedom of the press. As a result, a diverse media landscape has developed in the region,{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=99, 113}}<ref name=FreedomHouse2015>{{cite web|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/syria|title=Syria Country report, Freedom of the Press 2015|work=Freedom House|date=2015|accessdate=2016-07-09}}</ref> in each of the [[Social:Kurdish languages|Kurdish]], [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]], Syriac-Aramaic and [[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]] languages of the land, as well as in English, and media outlets frequently use more than one language. Among the most prominent media in the region are Hawar News Agency and ARA News agencies and websites as well as TV outlets Rojava Kurdistan TV, Ronahî TV, and the bimonthly magazine ''Nudem''. A landscape of local newspapers and radio stations has developed. However, media agencies often face economic pressure, as was demonstrated by the closure of news website ''Welati'' in May 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/05/blow-kurdish-independent-media-syrian-kurdish-website-shuts/|title=In blow to Kurdish independent media, Syrian Kurdish website shuts down|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-05-15|accessdate=2016-07-09}}</ref> In addition, the autonomous regions have imposed some limits on press freedom, for example forcing the press to get work permits. These can be cancelled, thereby curtailing the ability of certain press agencies to operate. However, the extent of these restricions differed greatly from area to area. By 2016, Kobani Canton was the least restrictive, followed by Jazira Canton which closely monitored and occasionally regulated press activity.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=99}} Afrin Canton was the most restrictive, and many local reporters operated anonymously.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=114}}

Political extremism in the context of the Syrian Civil War can put media outlets under pressure; for example in April 2016 the premises of Arta FM ("the first, and only, independent radio station staffed and broadcast by Syrians inside Syria") in Amuda was threatened and burned down by unidentified assailants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/b2cd5731-94cf-4181-94bf-debfa4208992/Syria%E2%80%99s-first-Kurdish-radio-station-burnt|title=Syria’s first Kurdish radio station burnt|publisher=Kurdistan24|date=2016-04-27|accessdate=2016-07-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/04/syrian-kurdish-administration-condemns-burning-radio-arta-fm-office-amude/|title=Syrian Kurdish administration condemns burning of radio ARTA FM office in Amude|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-04-27|accessdate=2016-07-09}}</ref> During the Turkish military operation in Afrin, the KDP-affiliated Iraqi Kurdish Rudaw Media Network was also banned from reporting in the region.<ref>{{cite web |last1=By Rudaw |title=Rudaw expresses regret over ban by Kobani authorities in Syria |url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/250220161 |website=Rudaw}}</ref> On 2 September 2019, the [[Place:Iraqi Kurdistan|Iraqi Kurdistan]]-based and KDP-affiliated Kurdistan 24 network was banned and had its offices seized by Rojava authorities, over a reported insult made by the network against [[Organization:Kurdistan Communities Union|Kurdistan Communities Union]] co-chair Bese Kozat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Dalatrm/status/1168526797455220737|title=Authorities in #Rojava ban operations of Kurdistan24 TV in #SDF-held areas, shut down its offices, over 'talkshow insult' of #PKK leading figure & #KCK co-chair Besê Hozat|last=Dalati|first=Riam|date=2019-09-02|website=@Dalatrm|language=en|access-date=2019-09-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/e9639851-d3aa-42c4-962b-7a04e733e3bf|title=Statement from Kurdistan 24 Company for Media and Research Ltd.|last=Kurdistan24|website=Kurdistan24|language=en|access-date=2019-09-02}}</ref>

International media and journalists operate with few restrictions in the region, one of the only regions in Syria where they can operate with some degree of freedom.<ref name=FreedomHouse2015 /> This has led to several international media reports regarding the region, including major TV documentaries like [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKhjJfH0ra4 BBC documentary (2014): ''Rojava: Syria's Secret Revolution''] or [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JgM8JTvL_o Sky1 documentary (2016): ''Rojava – The Fight Against ISIS''].

Internet connections in the region are often slow due to inadequate infrastructure. Internet lines are operated by Syrian Telecom, which as of January 2017 is working on a major extension of the fibre optic cable network in southern Jazira Region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://syriannewscenter.net/ar/article/23775-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%AA-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B4%D9%84%D9%8A-%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-10-%D8%A3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%85.html |script-title=ar:انترنت في الحسكة والقامشلي خلال 10 أيام |publisher=syriannewscenter.net |language=ar-sy |date=12 January 2017|accessdate=2017-01-13}}</ref>

===The arts===
After the establishment of the de facto autonomous region, the Center of Art and Democratic Culture, located in Jazira Region, has become a venue for aspiring artists who showcase their work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/07/syria-kurdish-rojava-revolutionary-art.html|title=Kurdish art, music flourish as regime fades from northeast Syria|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=2016-07-19|accessdate=2016-07-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |script-title=ar:هيئة الثقافة تفتتح معرضاً في سري كانيه بالحسكة|url=http://aranews.org/2015/09/هيئة-الثقافة-تفتتح-معرضاً-في-سري-كانيه/|agency=ARA News|date=12 September 2015|language=Arabic}}</ref> Among major cultural events in the region is the annual ''Festival of Theater'' in March/April as well as the ''Rojava Short Story Festival'' in June, both in the city of Qamishli, and the ''Afrin Short Film Festival'' in April.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/3cfd84f7-b2fb-4370-a8b0-67fcfadbb58f/Syrian-Kurds-hold-theatre-festival-in-Rojava-amid-war|title=Syrian Kurds hold theatre festival in Rojava amid war|publisher=Kurdistan24|date=April 2017|accessdate=2017-04-19}}</ref>

==Economy==

The Jazira Region is a major wheat and cotton producer and has a considerable oil industry. The Euphrates Region suffered most destruction of the three regions and has huge challenges in reconstruction, and has recently seen some greenhouse agriculture construction. The Afrin Region has had a traditional specialization on olive oil including Aleppo soap made from it, and had drawn much industrial production from the nearby city of Aleppo due to the fighting in Aleppo city from 2012-2016. [[Finance:Price controls|Price controls]] are managed by local committees, which can set the price of basic goods such as food and medical goods.<ref name="diclenews.com">{{cite web|url=http://diclenews.com/en/news/content/view/436354|title=Efrîn Economy Minister Yousef: Rojava challenging norms of class, gender and power|website=Diclenews.com|accessdate=18 February 2015}}</ref>

It has been theorized that the Assad government had deliberately underdeveloped parts of Northern Syria for the purposes of Arabization of the region as well as making secession attempts less likely.<ref name=pkk/> During the Syrian Civil War, the infrastructure of the region has on average experienced less destruction than other parts of Syria. In May 2016, Ahmed Yousef, head of the Economic Body and chairman of Afrin University, stated that at the time, the economic output of the region (including agriculture, industry and oil) accounted for about 55% of Syria's gross domestic product.<ref name="Will Syria's Kurds succeed at self-sufficiency?">{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/04/kurdish-areas-norther-syria-economy-self-sufficiency.html|title=Will Syria's Kurds succeed at self-sufficiency?|date=2016-05-03|accessdate=2016-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508233809/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/04/kurdish-areas-norther-syria-economy-self-sufficiency.html|archive-date=8 May 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 2014, the Syrian government was still paying some state employees,<ref name= ICG1>{{cite web |title = Flight of Icarus? The PYD’s Precarious Rise in Syria |format = PDF |url = http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20Syria%20Lebanon/Syria/151-flight-of-icarus-the-pyd-s-precarious-rise-in-syria.pdf |publisher = International Crisis Group |access-date = 3 December 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160220181554/http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20Syria%20Lebanon/Syria/151-flight-of-icarus-the-pyd-s-precarious-rise-in-syria.pdf |archive-date = 20 February 2016 |url-status = dead |df = dmy-all }}</ref> but fewer than before.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.zamanalwsl.net/en/news/7359.html |title = Zamana LWSL}}</ref> The administration of the region has however stated that "none of our projects are financed by the regime".<ref name="Efrîn_Economy Minister_interview"/>

There were at first no [[Finance:Direct tax|direct]] or [[Finance:Indirect tax|indirect]] [[Engineering:Tax|tax]]es on people or businesses in the region; the administration raised money mainly through [[Finance:Tariff|tariff]]s and selling oil and other natural resources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biehlonbookchin.com/poor-in-means/|title=Poor in means but rich in spirit|work=Ecology or Catastrophe|accessdate=18 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="diclenews.com"/> However, in July 2017, it was reported that the administration in the Jazira Region had started to collect income tax to provide for public services in the region.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Wladimir van Wilgenburg |title=Rojava Administration to Impose Tax System in Northern Syria |url=https://mesopotamia.coop/rojava-administration-to-impose-tax-system-in-northern-syria/ |website=Co-operation in Mesopotamia |date=11 July 2017}}</ref> In May 2016, The ''Wall Street Journal'' reported that traders in Syria experience the region as "the one place where they aren't forced to pay bribes."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-syrias-mangled-economy-truckers-stitch-together-warring-regions-1464106368|title=In Syria's Mangled Economy, Truckers Stitch Together Warring Regions |publisher=Wall Street Journal|date=2016-05-24|accessdate=2016-05-24}}</ref>

The main sources of revenue for the autonomous region have been presented as: 1. Income from public properties such as grain silos as well as from oil and gas in the Jazira Region, 2. Income from local taxation and customs fees taken at the border crossings, 3. Income from service delivery, 4. Finances sent from expats in Iraq and Turkey and 5. Local donations. In 2015 the autonomous administration of the region shared information regarding the region's finances in which the total amount of revenue for the year of 2014 for the autonomous administration was about 3 billion Syrian Pounds (≈5.8 million USD) from which 50% was spent on "self-defense and protection", 18% for the Jazira Canton (now Jazira Region), 8.5% for the Kobani Canton (now Euphrates Region), 8.5% for the Afrin Canton (now Afrin Region), 15% for the "Internal Committee" and any remainder as a reserve for use in the following year.<ref name=omran2018/>

===External economic relations===

Oil and food production is substantial,<ref name=Econ1>{{cite news |title = Striking out on their own|url = https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21628887-syrias-kurds-are-enjoying-more-autonomy-striking-out-their-own |work = The Economist}}</ref> so they are important exports. Agricultural products include sheep, grain and cotton. Important imports are consumer goods and auto parts.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://online.wsj.com/articles/kurds-fight-islamic-state-to-claim-a-piece-of-syria-1415843557 |title= Kurds Fight Islamic State to Claim a Piece of Syria|work = The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> Trade with Turkey and access to humanitarian and military aid is difficult due to a blockade by Turkey.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/isku/erklaerungen/2014/05/14.htm|title=Das Embargo gegen Rojava|publisher=TATORT (Kurdistan Delegation)|accessdate=7 August 2015}}</ref> Turkey does not allow businesspeople or goods to cross its border.<ref>{{cite web|title=Syrian Kurds risk their lives crossing into Turkey|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/syrian-kurds-risk-lives-cross-turkey-33769556|publisher=Middle East Eye|accessdate=11 January 2015|date=29 December 2014}}</ref> The blockade from adjacent territories held by Turkey and ISIL, and partially also the KRG, temporarily caused heavy distortions of relative prices in Jazira Region and Euphrates Region (while separate, Afrin Region borders government-controlled territory since February 2016); for example in Jazira Region and Euphrates Region, through 2016 petrol cost only half as much as bottled water.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cooperativeeconomy.info/rojava-the-economic-branches-in-detail/|title=Rojava: The Economic Branches in Detail|work=cooperativeeconomy.info|date=14 January 2017|accessdate=16 January 2017}}</ref>

The Semalka Border Crossing with [[Place:Iraqi Kurdistan|Iraqi Kurdistan]] had been intermittently closed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), but has been open permanently since June 2016,<ref name=open /><ref name=open>{{cite news|title=US welcomes opening of border between Rojava and Iraqi Kurdistan|url=http://aranews.net/2016/06/us-welcomes-opening-border-rojava-iraqi-kurdistan/|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-06-10|accessdate=2016-06-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/economy/1b332ce0-5791-4ca1-9bc1-1603fb830879/Business-booming-in-Rojava-after-outlet-opened-with-Kurdistan-Region|title=Business booming in Rojava after outlet opened with Kurdistan Region|date=22 April 2017|publisher=Kurdistan24}}</ref> and along with the establishment of a corridor to Syrian government controlled territory in April 2017,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://aranews.net/2017/06/first-aid-convoy-arrives-rojava-new-land-corridor/|title=First aid convoy arrives in Rojava through new land corridor|publisher=ARA News|date=26 June 2017}}</ref> economic exchange has increasingly normalized. Further, in May 2017 in northern Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Forces fighting ISIL cleared a corridor connecting the autonomous region and Iraqi government-controlled territory.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-syria-idUSKBN18P1C0|title=Iran-backed Iraqi force says takes Islamic State villages near Syria|work=Reuters|date=29 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraq-paramilitaries-move-key-town-syrian-border-47700766|title=Iraq paramilitaries reach Iraq's border with Syria|work=ABC News|date=29 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.iraqinews.com/arab-world-news/pkk-planning-open-trade-route-rojava-iraq/|title=PKK planning to open trade route between Rojava and Iraq|publisher=Iraqi News|date=4 June 2017}}</ref>

===Economy policy framework===
[[File:Rojava Sewing Cooperative.jpg|thumb|The autonomous administration is supporting efforts for workers to form cooperatives, such as this sewing cooperative in Derik.]]
The autonomous region is ruled by a coalition which bases its policy ambitions to a large extent on the libertarian socialist ideology of Abdullah Öcalan and have been described as pursuing a model of economy that blends co-operative and private enterprise.<ref name=vancouver>{{cite web|url=http://www.vancouverobserver.com/opinion/rojava-syria-revolution-hope-and-healing|title=Rojava, Syria: A revolution of hope and healing|publisher=Vancouver Observer|date=19 April 2017|accessdate=2017-04-19}}</ref> In 2012, the PYD launched what it called the "Social Economy Plan", later renamed the "People's Economy Plan" (PEP).<ref>{{cite book|title=A Small Key Can Open a Large Door: The Rojava Revolution|date=4 March 2015|publisher=Strangers In A Tangled Wilderness|edition=1st}}</ref> [[Finance:Private property|Private property]] and entrepreneurship are protected under the principle of "ownership by use". Dr. Dara Kurdaxi, a regional official, has stated: "The method in Rojava is not so much against private property, but rather has the goal of putting private property in the service of all the peoples who live in Rojava."<ref>Michael Knapp, [http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2015/02/06/rojava-the-formation-of-an-economic-alternative-private-property-in-the-service-of-all/ 'Rojava{{snd}} the formation of an economic alternative: Private property in the service of all'].</ref> Communes and co-operatives have been established to provide essentials.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cooperativeeconomy.info/how-do-cooperatives-work-in-rojava/|title=How do cooperatives work in Rojava?|work=cooperativeeconomy.info|accessdate=16 January 2017}}</ref> Co-operatives account for a large proportion of agricultural production and are active in construction, factories, energy production, livestock, pistachio and roasted seeds, and public markets.<ref name=vancouver /> Several hundred instances of collective farming have occurred across towns and villages in the region, with communes consisting of approximately 20–35 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sange.fi/kvsolidaarisuustyo/wp-content/uploads/Dr.-Ahmad-Yousef-Social-economy-in-Rojava.pdf|format=PDF|title=Rojava experience of the social economy : reality and prospects|author=Dr. Ahmad Yousef|website=Sange.fi|accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref> According to the region's "Ministry of Economics", approximately three quarters of all property has been placed under community ownership and a third of production has been transferred to direct management by [[Social:Workers' council|workers' council]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Small Key Can Open a Large Door: The Rojava Revolution|date=4 March 2015|publisher=Strangers In A Tangled Wilderness|edition=1st|quote=According to Dr. Ahmad Yousef, an economic co-minister, three-quarters of traditional private property is being used as commons and one quarter is still being owned by use of individuals...According to the Ministry of Economics, worker councils have only been set up for about one third of the enterprises in Rojava so far.}}</ref>

==Law and security==
[[File:Claimed and de facto territory of Rojava.png|thumb|SDF-controlled territory (green) and Turkish-occupied territory (red) in October 2019]]

===Legal system===
Syrian civil laws are valid in the region if they do not conflict with the Constitution of the autonomous region. One example for amendment is personal status law, which in Syria is based on [[Religion:Sharia|Sharia]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Syria|url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/Syria_APS.doc|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|page=13|accessdate=2016-11-16}}</ref> and applied by Sharia Courts,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/islamic-family-law/home/research/legal-profiles/syria-syrian-arab-republic/|title=Islamic Family Law: Syria (Syrian Arab Republic)|publisher=Law.emory.edu|accessdate=2016-11-16}}</ref> while the [[Philosophy:Secularism|secular]] autonomous region proclaims absolute equality of women under the law, allowing [[Social:Civil marriage|civil marriage]] and banning [[Social:Forced marriage|forced marriage]], [[Religion:Polygamy|polygamy]]{{sfnp|Zabad|2017|pp=156–163}}<ref name=jolie>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37337908|title=Kurdish 'Angelina Jolie' devalued by media hype|work=BBC|date=2016-09-12|accessdate=2016-09-12}}</ref> and underage marriage.<ref name=underage>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/11/syrian-kurds-tackle-underage-marriages-polygamy/|title=Syrian Kurds tackle conscription, underage marriages and polygamy|publisher=ARA News|date=15 November 2016|accessdate=2016-11-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116150435/http://aranews.net/2016/11/syrian-kurds-tackle-underage-marriages-polygamy/|archive-date=16 November 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=marriage>{{cite web|title=Syria Kurds challenging traditions, promote civil marriage|url=http://aranews.net/2016/02/syria-kurds-challenging-traditions-promote-civil-marriage/|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-02-20|accessdate=2016-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222111444/http://aranews.net/2016/02/syria-kurds-challenging-traditions-promote-civil-marriage/|archive-date=22 February 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

A new criminal justice approach was implemented that emphasizes [[Philosophy:Restorative justice|restoration]] over retribution.<ref name="Financial Times">{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/50102294-77fd-11e5-a95a-27d368e1ddf7.html|title=Power to the people: a Syrian experiment in democracy|publisher=Financial Times|date=2015-10-23|accessdate=2016-06-06}}</ref> The death penalty was abolished.<ref name="The New Justice System in Rojava">{{cite web|url=http://www.biehlonbookchin.com/justice-system-in-rojava/|title=The New Justice System in Rojava|publisher=biehlonbookchin.com|date=2014-10-13|accessdate=2016-06-06}}</ref> Prisons house mostly people charged with terrorist activity related to ISIL and other extremist groups.<ref>{{cite news|title=Syrian Kurds Get Outside Help to Manage Prisons |url=http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-kurds-prisons/2976077.html|accessdate=2016-06-06|publisher=Voice of America|date=2015-09-23}}</ref> A September 2015 report of Amnesty International stated that 400 people were incarcerated by the region's authorities and criticized deficiencies in [[Social:Due process|due process]] of the judicial system of the region.<ref name=AI-prisonreport>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/09/syria-abuses-mar-pyd-fight-against-terrorism/|title=Syria: Arbitrary detentions and blatantly unfair trials mar PYD fight against terrorism|publisher=Amnesty International|date=7 September 2015|accessdate=12 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="utopia" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison_population_rate|title=Highest to Lowest – Prison Population Rate|publisher=World Prison Brief}}</ref>

The justice system in the region is influenced by [[Earth:Democratic confederalism|Abdullah Öcalan's libertarian socialist ideology]]. At the local level, citizens create ''Peace and Consensus Committees'', which make group decisions on minor criminal cases and disputes as well as in separate committees resolve issues of specific concern to women's rights like domestic violence and marriage. At the regional level, citizens (who need not be trained jurists) are elected by the regional ''People's Councils'' to serve on seven-member ''People's Courts''. At the next level are four ''Appeals Courts'', composed of trained jurists. The court of last resort is the ''Regional Court'', which serves the region as a whole. Separate from this system, the ''Constitutional Court'' renders decisions on compatibility of acts of government and legal proceedings with the constitution of the region (called the Social Contract).<ref name="The New Justice System in Rojava"/>

===Policing and security===
{{See also|Syrian Democratic Forces}} [[File:Members of the Raqqa internal security forces.png|250px|thumb|Members of the Raqqa Internal Security Forces (RISF) in Ayn Issa.]]
Policing in the region is performed by the Asayish armed formation. Asayish was established on 25 July 2013 to fill the gap of security when the Syrian security forces withdrew.<ref name="asayish">{{cite news|title=Rojava Asayish: Security institution not above but within the society|url=http://www.anfenglish.com/features/rojava-asayish-security-institution-not-above-but-within-the-society|accessdate=2016-06-06|publisher=ANF|date=2016-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924211035/http://www.anfenglish.com/features/rojava-asayish-security-institution-not-above-but-within-the-society|archive-date=24 September 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Under the Constitution of North and East Syria, policing is a competence of the regions. The Asayish forces of the regions are composed of 26 official bureaus that aim to provide security and solutions to social problems. The six main units of Asayish are Checkpoints Administration, Anti-Terror Forces Command (HAT), Intelligence Directorate, Organized Crime Directorate, Traffic Directorate and Treasury Directorate. 218 Asayish centers were established and 385 checkpoints with 10 Asayish members in each checkpoint were set up. 105 Asayish offices provide security against ISIL on the frontlines across Northern Syria. Larger cities have general directorates responsible for all aspects of security including road controls. Each region has a HAT command, and each Asayish center organizes itself autonomously.<ref name="asayish"/>

Throughout the region, the municipal Civilian Defense Forces (HPC)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://modernslavery.calpress.org/?p=949|title=Rojava Dispatch Six: Innovations, the Formation of the Hêza Parastina Cewherî (HPC)|publisher=Modern Slavery}}</ref> and the regional Self-Defense Forces (HXP)<ref>{{cite web|author=Rudaw|url=http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/04062015|title=Rojava defense force draws thousands of recruits|work=Rudaw|date=6 April 2015|accessdate=22 June 2015}}</ref> also serve local-level security. In Jazira Region, the Asayish are further complemented by the Assyrian Sutoro police force, which is organized in every area with Assyrian population, provides security and solutions to social problems in collaboration with other Asayish units.<ref name="asayish"/> The Khabour Guards and Nattoreh, though not police units, also have a presence in the area, providing security in towns along the [[Place:Khabur (Euphrates)|Khabur River]]. The Bethnahrain Women's Protection Forces also maintain a police branch. In the areas taken from ISIL during the Raqqa campaign, the Raqqa Internal Security Forces  and Manbij Internal Security Forces operate as police forces. Deir ez-Zor also maintain an Internal Security Forces unit.

===Militias===
[[File:A small group of YPJ fighters relaxing together.jpg|thumb|Female fighters of the YPJ play a significant combat role in the region.]]
[[File:HXP in 2016 (3).jpg|thumb|left|HXP militiamen on parade in 2016.]]

The main military force of the region is the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Syrian rebel groups formed in 2015. The SDF is led by the Kurdish majority People's Protection Units (''{{lang|ku|Yekîneyên Parastina Gel}}'', YPG). The YPG was founded by the PYD after the 2004 Qamishli clashes, but was first active in the Syrian Civil War.<ref name=Vice>{{cite web|last = Gold |first= Danny|url = https://www.vice.com/read/meet-the-ypg |title = Meet the YPG, the Kurdish Militia That Doesn't Want Help from Anyone |work =Vice|date=31 October 2010|accessdate= 9 October 2014}}</ref> There is also the Syriac Military Council (MFS), an Assyrian militia associated with the Syriac Union Party. There are also Free Syrian Army groups in the alliance such as Jaysh al-Thuwar and the Northern Democratic Brigade, tribal militias like the Arab Al-Sanadid Forces, and municipal military councils in the Shahba region, like the Manbij Military Council, the Al-Bab Military Council or the Jarablus Military Council.

The Self-Defence Forces (HXP) is a territorial defense militia and the only conscript armed force in the region. HXP is locally recruited to garrison their municipal area and is under the responsibility and command of the respective regions of the NES. Occasionally, HXP units have supported the YPG, and SDF in general, during combat operations against ISIL outside their own municipality and region.

=== Human rights ===

[[File:Husseiniya village.png|thumb|Satellite images of the village of Husseiniya in 2014 and 2015, reportedly leveled by the YPG. ]]

In the course of the Syrian Civil War, including 2014 and 2015 reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International stated that militias associated with the autonomous region were committing war crimes, in particular members of the People's Protection Units (YPG), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International operate freely in the region.<ref>{{cite web|date=2014-06-18|publisher=Human Rights Watch|title= Syria: Abuses in Kurdish-run Enclaves|url= https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/18/syria-abuses-kurdish-run-enclaves}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/syria-us-allys-razing-of-villages-amounts-to-war-crimes/|title=Syria|work=Amnesty International|date=13 October 2015}}</ref> The reports from 2014 include reports of arbitrary arrests and torture, other reports include the use of child soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/10/syria-kurdish-forces-violating-child-soldier-ban-0|title=Syria: Kurdish Forces Violating Child Soldier Ban|date=15 July 2015|website=Hrw.org|accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Prevent-the-rise-of-a-North-Korea-style-Kurdish-dictatorship-408405|title=Prevent the rise of a North Korea-style Kurdish dictatorship|website=Jpost.com|accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/06/19/under-kurdish-rule/abuses-pyd-run-enclaves-syria|title=Under Kurdish Rule - Abuses in PYD-run Enclaves of Syria|date=19 June 2014|website=Hrw.org|accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |author=U.N. Security Council |date=5 June 2015 |title=Report of the Secretary-General: Children and armed conflict |url=https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/69/926 |at=para. 191 |quote=Actual numbers are expected to be higher.... A number of pro-Government groups, including Hizbullah, also reportedly recruited children in small numbers.}}</ref> In October 2015 the YPG demobilized 21 minors from the military service in its ranks.<ref>{{cite report |author= |date=28 October 2015 |title=YPG demobilizes 21 children under the age of 18 from the military service in its ranks |url=http://www.syriahr.com/en/2015/10/ypg-demobilizes-21-children-under-the-age-of-18-from-the-military-service-in-its-ranks/ |publisher=Syrian Observatory for Human Rights |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121223140/http://supportkurds.org/news/wednesday-28-october-2015/ |archivedate=2015-11-21 }}</ref> Reports have been comprehensively debated and contested by both the YPG and other human rights organizations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Amnesty-accuses-US-backed-Syrian-Kurdish-group-of-demolishing-homes-423773|title=Amnesty accuses US-backed Syrian Kurdish group of demolishing homes|work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Syria: Kurdish Forces Violating Child Soldier Ban Despite Promises, Children Still Fight|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/interview-syrian-kurds-have-risen-out-of-nowhere-since-2011.aspx?pageID=238&nID=90267&NewsCatID=386|publisher=Hurriyet Daily News|date=2015-10-24|accessdate=2016-06-13}}</ref> YPG members since September 2015 receive human rights training from Geneva Call and other international organizations.<ref name="perry">{{cite news |last1=Perry |first1=Tom |last2=Malla |first2=Naline |date=10 September 2015 |title=Western states train Kurdish force in Syria, force's leader says |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/10/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-idUKKCN0RA1MO20150910 |agency={{wipe|Reuters}} |quote=Amnesty International this month faulted the Kurdish administration for arbitrary detentions and unfair trials.... [Ciwan] Ibrahim said ... efforts were underway to improve its human rights record.... The Geneva Call ... promotes good treatment of civilians in war zones... }}</ref>

The region's civil government has been hailed in international media for human rights advancement in particular in the legal system, concerning women's rights, ethnic minority rights, freedom of Speech and Press and for hosting inbound refugees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/syrian-kurds-women-equal-rights-snubbing-jihadists-193905057.html|title=Syrian Kurds give women equal rights, snubbing jihadists|publisher=Yahoo|date=9 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/50102294-77fd-11e5-a95a-27d368e1ddf7.html|title=Power to the people: a Syrian experiment in democracy|publisher=Financial Times|date=23 October 2015}}</ref><ref name=meredith/><ref name=Sheppard /> The political agenda of "trying to break the honor-based religious and tribal rules that confine women" is controversial in conservative quarters of society.<ref name=underage /> Enforcing conscription into the Self-Defence Forces (HXP) has been called a human rights violation from the perspective of those who call the region's institutions as illegitimate.<ref name=assyrian-accuses>{{cite news|url=http://aranews.net/2016/03/assyrian-leader-accuses-pyd-monopolizing-power-syrias-north/|publisher=ARA|title=Assyrian leader accuses PYD of monopolizing power in Syria’s north|date=23 March 2016|accessdate=22 October 2016}}</ref>

Some persistent issues under the region's administration concern ethnic minority rights. One issue of contention is the consequence of the Baathist Syrian government's settling of Arab tribal settlers, expropriated for the purpose from its previous Kurdish owners in 1973 and 2007,<ref name="OHCHR-2009"/><ref name=HRW1996 /><ref name="CSmonitor-2005" /> There have been calls to expel the settlers and return the land to their previous owners, which has led the political leadership of the region to press the Syrian government for a comprehensive solution.<ref name="Al-Monitor">{{cite web|title=Syria rejects Russian proposal for Kurdish federation|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkey-russia-mediates-between-kurds-and-assad.html|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=24 October 2016}}</ref>

During the ongoing Syrian Civil War, organizations such as the Turkish government,<ref>{{cite news|title=Turkey accuses Kurdish forces of 'ethnic cleansing' in Syria|url=https://news.yahoo.com/turkey-accuses-kurdish-forces-ethnic-cleansing-syria-093148734.html|date=16 Jun 2015|agency=Agence France-Presse|quote=President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said he was troubled by the advance of Kurdish forces, saying they could in the future create a structure to threaten Turkey.|access-date=27 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105202740/https://news.yahoo.com/turkey-accuses-kurdish-forces-ethnic-cleansing-syria-093148734.html|archive-date=5 November 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Amnesty International<ref>{{cite news|title= Syria: US ally’s razing of villages amounts to war crimes|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/syria-us-allys-razing-of-villages-amounts-to-war-crimes/|publisher= Amnesty International |date= 13 October 2015 }}</ref> and the Middle East Observer<ref>{{cite news|title=Syria: Kurdish militias plan a demographic change in Manbij|url=https://www.middleeastobserver.org/2016/08/14/syria-kurdish-militias-plan-a-demographic-change-in-manbij/|publisher=Middle East Observer|date=14 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Tal Abyad: Achilles Heel of the Syrian Kurdish Belt|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/tal-abyad-achilles-heel-of-the-syrian-kurdish-belt|publisher=Middle East Observer|date=21 December 2018}}</ref> have stated that SDF was forcibly displacing inhabitants of captured areas with predominantly Arab population such as Tell Abyad. These displacements were considered attempts at [[Social:Ethnic cleansing|ethnic cleansing]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Syrian Kurds accused of ethnic cleansing and killing opponents|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/18/syrian-kurds-accused-of-ethnic-cleansing-and-killing-opponents/|publisher=The Telegraph|date=18 May 2016}}</ref> Contrasting with these reports, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has rebutted reports of ethnic cleansing in Tel Abyad against the Turkmen and Arabic population<ref name="Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker">{{cite web|url=https://www.gfbv.de/en/news/theres-no-ethnic-cleansing-in-til-abyad-against-the-turkmen-and-arabic-population-7568/|title=''"There’s no 'ethnic cleansing' in Til Abyad against the Turkmen and Arabic population."'', Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, 26. Juni 2015|trans-title=|language=|author=|date=|website=GFBV.de|access-date=27 May 2019}}</ref> and the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry also released a report that stated that the commission did not find evidence of YPG or SDF forces committing ethnic cleansing in order to change the demographic composition of territories under their control.<ref>{{cite news|title=Syria, Report by UN Commission of Inquiry (March 2017)|url=https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/syria-report-un-commission-inquiry-march-2017|accessdate=27 May 2019|work=International Committee of the Red Cross|date=10 March 2017}}</ref>

==Demographics==
The demographics of the region have historically been highly diverse. One major shift in modern times was in the early part of the 20th century due to the Assyrian and Armenian Genocides, when many Assyrians and Armenians fled to Syria from Turkey. This was followed by many Kurds fleeing Turkey in the aftermath of Sheikh Said rebellion. Another major shift in modern times was the Baath policy of settling additional Arab population in Northern Syria. Most recently, during the Syrian Civil War, many refugees have fled to the north of the country. Some ethnic Arab citizens from Iraq have fled to Northern Syria as well.<ref name=Sheppard>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/10/kurds-rojava-syria-isis-iraq-assad/505037/|title=What the Syrian Kurds Have Wrought. The radical, unlikely, democratic experiment in northern Syria|author=Si Sheppard|publisher=The Atlantic|date=25 October 2016|accessdate=2016-10-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Syrian Kurds provide safe haven for thousands of Iraqis fleeing ISIS|url=http://aranews.net/2016/07/syrian-kurds-provide-safe-haven-thousands-iraqis-fleeing-isis/|accessdate=2016-07-02|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-07-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Rojava hosts thousands of displaced Iraqi civilians as war on ISIS intensifies|url=http://aranews.net/2016/10/rojava-hosts-thousands-of-displaced-iraqi-civilians-as-war-on-isis-intensifies/|accessdate=2016-10-18|publisher=ARA News|date=17 October 2016}}</ref> However, as of January 2018, only two million people are estimated to remain in the area under the region's administration with estimates of around half a million people emigrating since the beginning of the civil war, to a large degree because of the economic hardships the region has faced during the war.<ref name=washingtoninstitute1/>

=== Ethnic groups ===
Two ethnic groups have a significant presence throughout Northern Syria:

*'''Kurds''' are an [[Social:Ethnic group|ethnic group]]<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4555000.stm Killing of Iraq Kurds 'genocide'], ''BBC'', "The Dutch court said it considered "legally and convincingly proven that the Kurdish population meets requirement under Genocide Conventions as an ethnic group"."</ref> living in northeastern and northwestern Syria, culturally and linguistically classified among the Iranian peoples.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Kurds.html  |title=Kurds |date=2014 |work=The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.|publisher=Encyclopedia.com |accessdate=29 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Mehrdad R. |last=Izady |title=The Kurds: A Concise Handbook |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=I9mr6OgLjBoC&pg=PA198 |year=1992 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8448-1727-9 |page=198}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter=Kurds, Kurdistan |last1=Bois|first1=T.|last2=Minorsky|first2=V.|last3=MacKenzie|first3=D.N.|title=Encyclopaedia Islamica|editor1-first=P.|editor1-last=Bearman |editor2-first=T.|editor2-last=Bianquis |editor3-first=C.&nbsp;E.|editor3-last=Bosworth |editor4-first=E.|editor4-last=van Donzel |editor5-first=W.&nbsp;P.|editor5-last=Heinrichs |publisher=Brill |year=2009 |quote=The Kurds, an Iranian people of the Near East, live at the junction of more or less laicised Turkey. ... We thus find that about the period of the Arab conquest a single ethnic term ''Kurd'' (plur. ''Akrād'') was beginning to be applied to an amalgamation of Iranian or iranicised tribes. ... The classification of the Kurds among the Iranian nations is based mainly on linguistic and historical data and does not prejudice the fact there is a complexity of ethnical elements incorporated in them.}}</ref> Many Kurds consider themselves descended from the ancient Iranian people of the Medes,<ref>{{cite book|author=Barbara A. West|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA518|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7|page=518}}</ref> using a calendar dating from 612 B.C., when the [[Place:Assyria|Assyria]]n capital of [[Place:Nineveh|Nineveh]] was conquered by the Medes.<ref name="Iranica Frye">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Frye|first=Richard Nelson|title=IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN (1) A General Survey |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |accessdate=2016-03-04|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-v1-peoples-survey}}</ref> Kurds formed 55% of the 2010 population of what now is both Jazira Region and Euphrates Region.<ref name=pkk>{{cite news|title=Rojava's Sustainability and the PKK's Regional Strategy|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/rojavas-sustainability-and-the-pkks-regional-strategy|publisher=Washington Institute|date=24 August 2016}}</ref> During the Syrian civil war, many Kurds who had lived elsewhere in Syria fled back to their traditional lands in Northern Syria.
*'''Arabs''' are an [[Social:Ethnic group|ethnic group]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Culturally Sensitive Social Work Practice with Arab Clients in Mental Health Settings|url=http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/events/911/alkrenawi.asp|website=Socialworkers.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Shoup|first1=John A.|title=Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781598843620|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPBfnT_E1mgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPBfnT_E1mgC&pg=PA16 |title=Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia|accessdate=26 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Barakat|first1=Halim|title=The Arab world society, culture, and state|date=1993|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=0520914422}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Overview of Middle East - Minority Rights Group|url=http://minorityrights.org/minoriti…/overview-of-middle-east/|website=Minority Rights Group}}</ref> or [[Social:Ethnolinguistic group|ethnolinguistic group]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Dona J. Stewart|title=The Middle East Today: Political, Geographical and Cultural Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XV2SAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT49|date=22 December 2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-98078-8|page=49}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Anthony Gorman|author2=Andrew Newman|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=stl97FdyRswC&pg=PA32|year=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-2676-0|page=32}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=W. Montgomery Watt|author2=Pierre Cachia|title=Who Is an Arab?|url=https://worldview.carnegiecouncil.org/archive/worldview/1976/01/2630.html/_res/id=File1/|year=1976|publisher=Carnegie Council}}</ref> living throughout Northern Syria, mainly defined by [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]] as their [[Social:First language|first language]]. They encompass Bedouin tribes who trace their ancestry to the [[Place:Arabian Peninsula|Arabian Peninsula]] as well as [[Social:Arabization|arabized]] indigenous peoples and preexisting Arab groups.<ref name=ethno1>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i46Brt0bFucC&pg=PA169#v=onepage&q&f=false|title= Understanding Arabs, Fifth Edition: A Contemporary Guide to Arab Society|author= Margaret Nydell|page= 169|isbn= 9780983955801|date= 2012-03-23}}</ref><ref name=ethno2>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79wj2hj4wKUC&pg=PA30|title= The Modern Assyrians of the Middle East|author= John Joseph|page= 30|isbn= 9004116419|year= 2000}}</ref> Arabs form the majority or plurality in some parts of Northern Syria, in particular in the southern parts of the Jazira Region, in Tell Abyad District and in Azaz District. While in Shahba region the term Arab is mainly used to denote arabized Kurds<ref name=pkk /> and arabized ''Syrians'',<ref name=ethno1 /> in Euphrates Region and in Jazira Region it mainly denotes ethnic Arab Bedouin populations.<ref name=ethno2 />

Two ethnic groups have a significant presence in certain regions of Northern Syria:
[[File:Qamishli in winter.jpg|thumb|The streets of Qamishli during Christmas]]
*'''Assyrians''' are an [[Social:Ethnic group|ethnic group]].<ref>For Assyrians as indigenous to the Middle East, see
*Mordechai Nisan, Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-Expression, p. 180
*James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C, p. 206
*Carl Skutsch, Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities, p. 149
*Steven L. Danver, Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues, p. 517
*UNPO Assyria
*Richard T. Schaefer, Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society, p. 107</ref><ref>James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C, pp. 205–209</ref> Their presence in Syria is in the Jazira Region of the autonomous region, particularly in the urban areas ([[Place:Qamishli|Qamishli]], [[Place:Al-Hasakah|al-Hasakah]], Ras al-Ayn, Al-Malikiyah, Al-Qahtaniyah), in the northeastern corner and in villages along the [[Place:Khabur (Euphrates)|Khabur River]] in the [[Place:Tell Tamer|Tell Tamer]] area. They traditionally speak varieties of Syriac-Aramaic, a Semitic language.<ref>For Assyrians speaking a Neo-Aramaic language, see
*The British Survey, By British Society for International Understanding, 1968, p. 3
*Carl Skutsch, Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities, p. 149 
*Farzad Sharifian, René Dirven, Ning Yu, Susanne Niemeier, Culture, Body, and Language: Conceptualizations of Internal Body Organs across Cultures and Languages, p. 268
*UNPO Assyria</ref> There are many Assyrians among recent refugees to Northern Syria, fleeing Islamist violence elsewhere in Syria back to their traditional lands.<ref>{{cite news|title=Glavin: In Iraq and Syria, it's too little, too late|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/iraq-and-syria-too-little-too-late|accessdate=7 May 2016|work=Ottawa Citizen|date=14 November 2014|language=en-US}}</ref> In the secular polyethnic political climate of the region, the [[Social:Dawronoye|Dawronoye]] modernization movement has a growing influence on Assyrian identity in the 21st century.<ref name=Dawronoye/>
*'''Turkmen''' are an [[Social:Ethnic group|ethnic group]] with a major presence in the area between Afrin Region and Euphrates Region, where they form regional majorities in the countryside from Azaz and Mare' to Jarabulus, and a minor presence in Afrin Region and Euphrates Region.

There are also smaller minorities of '''Armenians''' throughout Northern Syria as well as '''Chechens''' in Ras al-Ayn.

===Languages===
[[File:ArRaqqahRoofTops.jpg|thumb|Sunset over the rooftops in Raqqa]]
Regarding the status of different languages in the autonomous region, its "Social Contract" stipulates that "all languages in Northern Syria are equal in all areas of life, including social, educational, cultural, and administrative dealings. Every people shall organize its life and manage its affairs using its mother tongue."<ref>http://rojavabenelux.nl/?page_id=1862</ref> In practice, Arabic and Kurmanji are predominantly used across all areas and for most official documents, with Syriac being mainly used in the Jazira Region with some usage across all areas while Turkish and Circassian are also used in the region of Manbij.

The four main languages spoken in Northern Syria are the following, and are from three different language families: 
*[[Social:Kurdish languages|Kurdish]] (in Northern Kurdish dialect), a Northwestern Iranian language<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kurdish-language-i|title=HISTORY OF THE KURDISH LANGUAGE|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=D. N. MacKenzie |year=1961 |title=The Origins of Kurdish |journal=Transactions of the Philological Society |pages=68–86}}</ref> from the [[Social:Indo-European languages|Indo-European language family]].
*[[Social:Arabic language|Arabic]] (in North Mesopotamian Arabic dialect, in writing [[Social:Modern Standard Arabic|Modern Standard Arabic]]), a Central Semitic language from the Semitic language family
*Syriac-Aramaic mainly in the Surayt/Turoyo and [[Social:Assyrian Neo-Aramaic|Assyrian Neo-Aramaic]] varieties (mainly Classical Syriac in writing), Northwest Semitic languages from the Semitic language family.
*[[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]] (in Syrian Turkmen dialect), from the [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic language family]].

For these four languages, three different scripts are in use in Northern Syria:
*The Latin alphabet for Kurdish and Turkish
*The Arabic alphabet (abjad) for Arabic
*The Syriac alphabet for Syriac-Aramaic

===Religion===
[[File:Hasakah,armen.church.jpg|thumb|Assyrian cathedral in Al-Hasakah]]

Most ethnic Kurdish and Arab people in Northern Syria adhere to Sunni Islam, while ethnic Assyrian people generally are [[Organization:Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox]], Chaldean Catholic, Syriac Catholic or adherents of the Assyrian Church of the East. There are also adherents to other religions, such as [[Unsolved:Yazidis|Yazidis]]m.<ref>{{cite news|title=Could Christianity be driven from Middle East?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32287806|accessdate=15 April 2015|publisher=BBC|date=15 April 2015}}</ref> The dominant PYD party and the political administration in the region are decidedly [[Philosophy:Secularism|secular]] and [[Religion:Laicism|laicist]].<ref name=Dawronoye>{{cite web|author=Carl Drott|url=http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/revolutionaries-bethnahrin|title=The Revolutionaries of Bethnahrin|publisher=Warscapes|date=25 May 2015|accessdate=8 October 2016}}</ref>

===Population centres===
[[File:Square in Manbij.jpg|thumb|Square in Manbij]]
This list includes all cities and towns in the region with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The population figures are given according to the 2004 Syrian census.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbssyr.org/General%20census/census%202004/pop-man.pdf |title=2004 Syrian Census |date=2004 |website=Cbssyr.org |access-date=2016-05-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310211017/http://www.cbssyr.org/General%20census/census%202004/pop-man.pdf |archivedate=10 March 2013 }}</ref><br>Cities highlighted in light grey are partially controlled by the Syrian government.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rojava authorities |title=Announce elections |url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/29072017 |website=Rudaw}}</ref><ref name="Salim Muslim interview">{{cite web|last1=Muslim|first1=Salim|title=Only way to keep Syria united by the adoption of a decentralised, democratic and secular system|url=https://www.vrede.be/nieuws/de-enige-manier-om-syrie-bij-elkaar-te-houden-de-invoering-van-een-gedecentraliseerd|website=vrede.be|publisher=Vrede vzw|accessdate=5 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Iddon|first1=Paul|title=The power plays behind Russia’s deconfliction in Afrin|url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/analysis/10092017|accessdate=5 January 2018|work=Rudaw|agency=Rudaw|publisher=Rudaw|date=10 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="Rudaw2017-07-28">{{cite news|title=Kurdish force may leave Raqqa campaign if Turkey continues attacks|url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/28022017|accessdate=5 January 2018|work=Rudaw|agency=Rudaw|publisher=Rudaw|date=28 July 2017|ref=Rudaw2017-07-28}}</ref>

{|class="toccolours sortable" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse" 
|+
|- style="background:lavender;"
!English Name
!Kurdish Name
![[Social:Arabic|Arabic]] Name
!Syriac Name
![[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]] Name
![[Social:Population|Population]]
!Region
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|[[Place:Raqqa|Raqqa]]
|Reqa
|الرقة
|ܪܩܗ
|Rakka
|220,488
|Raqqa
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|[[Place:Al-Hasakah|Al-Hasakah]]
|Hesîçe
|الحسكة
|ܚܣܟܗ
|Haseke
|188,160
|Jazira
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|[[Place:Qamishli|Qamishli]]
|Qamişlo
|القامشلي
|ܩܡܫܠܐ
|Kamışlı
|184,231
|Jazira
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|Manbij
|Menbîç
|منبج
|ܡܒܘܓ
|Münbiç
|99,497
|Manbij
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|Tabqa
|Tebqa
|الطبقة
|ܛܒܩܗ
|Tabka
|69,425
|Tabqa
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|Kobani
|Kobanî
|عين العرب
|ܟܘܒܐܢܝ
|Arappınar
|44,821
|Euphrates
|- 
|Hajin
|
|هجين{{lrm}}
|ܗܓܝܢ
|
|37,935
|Deir Ez-Zor
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|Amuda
|Amûdê
|عامودا
|ܥܐܡܘܕܐ
|Amudiye
|26,821
|Jazira
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|Al-Malikiyah
|Dêrika Hemko
|المالكية
|ܕܪܝܟ
|Deyrik
|26,311
|Jazira
|- 
|Gharanij
|
|غرانيج
|ܓܪܐܢܝܓ
|
|23,009
|Deir Ez-Zor
|- 
|Abu Hamam
|
|أبو حمام{{lrm}}
|ܐܒܘ ܚܡܐܡ
|
|21,947
|Deir Ez-Zor
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|Tell Rifaat	
|Arfêd
|تل رفعت 
|ܬܠ ܪܦܥܬ
|Tel Rıfat
|20,514
|Afrin
|- 
|Al-Shaafah
|
|الشعفة
|ܫܥܦܗ
|
|18,956
|Deir Ez-Zor
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|Al-Qahtaniyah
|Tirbespî
|القحطانية
|ܩܒܪ̈ܐ ܚܘܪ̈ܐ
|Kubur el Bid
|16,946
|Jazira
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|Al-Mansurah
|
|المنصورة{{lrm}}
|ܡܢܨܘܪܗ
|
|16,158
|Tabqa<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sdf-press.com/?p=21029|title=أعمال وإنجازات مجلس المنصورة المدني خلال عامه الأول|date=10 July 2018}}</ref>
|-
|Al-Shaddadah
|Şeddadê
|الشدادي
|ܫܕܐܕܝ
|Şaddadi
|15,806
|Jazira
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|Al-Muabbada
|Girkê Legê
|المعبدة
|ܡܥܒܕܗ
|Muabbada
|15,759
|Jazira
|- 
|Al-Kishkiyah
|
|الكشكية
|ܟܫܟܝܗ
|
|14,979
|Deir Ez-Zor
|-
|Al-Sabaa wa Arbain
|Seba û Erbîyn
|السبعة وأربعين
|ܣܒܥܗ ܘܐܪܒܥܝܢ
|El Seba ve Arbayn
|14,177
|Jazira
|- style="background:#dcdddd;"
|Rmelan
|Rimêlan
|رميلان
|ܪܡܝܠܐܢ
|Rimelan
|11,500
|Jazira
|- 
|Al-Baghuz Fawqani
|
|الباغوز فوقاني{{lrm}}
|ܒܐܓܘܙ ܦܘܩܐܢܝ
|
|10,649
|Deir Ez-Zor
|}

==External relations==

===Relations with the Syrian government===
[[File:Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svg|thumb|Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces]]

Currently, the relations of the region to the Damascus government are determined by the context of the Syrian civil war. The Constitution of Syria and the Constitution of North and East Syria are legally incompatible with respect to legislative and executive authority. In the military realm, combat between the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian government forces has been rare, in the most instances some of the territory still controlled by the Syrian government in Qamishli and al-Hasakah has been lost to the YPG. In some military campaigns, in particular in northern Aleppo governate and in al-Hasakah, YPG and Syrian government forces have tacitly cooperated against Islamist forces, the [[Religion:Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL) and others.<ref name=russia-mediates>{{cite news|title=Syria’s war: Assad on the offensive|url=https://www.economist.com/news/21690203-city-was-once-syrias-largest-faces-siege-assadu2019s-grip-tightens|accessdate=2016-05-01|work=[[Finance:The Economist|The Economist]]|date=2016-02-13}}</ref>

The region does not state to pursue full independence but rather autonomy within a federal and democratic Syria.<ref name=MiddleEastEye>{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/analysis-kurds-syria-rojava-1925945786|title=ANALYSIS: 'This is a new Syria, not a new Kurdistan'|publisher=MiddleEastEye|date=2016-03-21|accessdate=2016-05-25}}</ref> In July 2016, Constituent Assembly co-chair Hediya Yousef formulated the region's approach towards Syria as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160712/1042855292/syrian-kurds-do-not-want-fragmentation.html|title=Syrian Kurdish Official to Sputnik: 'We Won't Allow Dismemberment of Syria'|publisher=Sputnis News|date=2016-07-12|accessdate=2016-07-12}}</ref>

{{quote|We believe that a federal system is ideal form of governance for Syria. We see that in many parts of the world, a federal framework enables people to live peacefully and freely within territorial borders. The people of Syria can also live freely in Syria. We will not allow for Syria to be divided; all we want is the democratization of Syria; its citizens must live in peace, and enjoy and cherish the ethnic diversity of the national groups inhabiting the country.}}

In March 2015, the Syrian Information Minister announced that his government considered recognizing the Kurdish autonomy "within the law and constitution".<ref>{{cite web|title=KRG: Elections in Jazira are Not Acceptable|publisher=Basnews|url=http://basnews.com/en/news/2015/03/14/krg-elections-in-jazira-are-not-acceptable/|date=14 March 2015|accessdate=15 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316122001/http://basnews.com/en/news/2015/03/14/krg-elections-in-jazira-are-not-acceptable/|archive-date=16 March 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> While the region's administration is not invited to the Geneva III peace talks on Syria,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-idUSKCN0YE2NI|title=Syrian Kurds point finger at Western-backed opposition|publisher=Reuters|date=2016-05-23|accessdate=2016-05-24}}</ref> or any of the earlier talks, Russia in particular calls for the region's inclusion and does to some degree carry the region's positions into the talks, as documented in Russia's May 2016 draft for a new constitution for Syria.<ref name="Now.MMedia/Al-Akhbar">{{cite web|url=https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/567021-russia-finishes-draft-for-new-syria-constitution-report|title=Russia finishes draft for new Syria constitution|publisher=Now.MMedia/Al-Akhbar|date=2016-05-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807092054/https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/567021-russia-finishes-draft-for-new-syria-constitution-report |archivedate=7 August 2016}}</ref> In October 2016, there were reports of a Russian initiative for federalization with a focus on northern Syria, which at its core called to turn the existing institutions of the region into legitimate institutions of Syria; also reported was its rejection for the time being by the Syrian government.<ref name="Al-Monitor"/> The Damascus ruling elite is split over the question whether the new model in the region can work in parallel and converge with the Syrian government, for the benefit of both, or if the agenda should be to centralize again all power at the end of the civil war, necessitating preparation for ultimate confrontation with the region's institutions.<ref name=chatham>{{cite web|url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/publications/research/2016-09-15-kurdish-self-governance-syria-sary_0.pdf|title=Kurdish Self-governance in Syria: Survival and Ambition|author=Ghadi Sary|publisher=Chatham House|date=September 2016}}</ref>

An analysis released in June 2017 described the region's "relationship with the regime fraught but functional" and a "semi-cooperative dynamic".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://warontherocks.com/2017/06/the-signal-in-syrias-noise/|title=The Signal in Syria’s Noise|author=Sam Heller|publisher=warontherocks.com|date=30 June 2017}}</ref> In late September 2017, Syria's Foreign Minister said that Damascus would consider granting Kurds more autonomy in the region once ISIL is defeated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/syria-granting-kurds-greater-autonomy-170926121821968.html|title=Syria to consider granting Kurds greater autonomy|website=Al Jazeera|accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref>

On 13 October 2019, the SDF announced that it had reached an agreement with the Syrian Army which allowed the latter to enter the SDF-held cities of Manbij and Kobani in order to dissuade a Turkish attack on those cities as part of the cross-border offensive by Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.<ref>{{citeweb|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-towns-report-idUSKBN1WS0K0|title=Report: Syrian army to enter SDF-held Kobani, Manbij|website=Reuters|date=2019-10-14|access-date=2019-11-01}}</ref> The Syrian Army also deployed in the north of Syria together with the SDF along the Syrian-Turkish border and entered into several SDF-held cities such as Ayn Issa and Tell Tamer.<ref>{{citenews|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-government-sdf-idUSKBN1WS0PF|title=Syrian army to deploy along Turkish border in deal with Kurdish-led forces|website=Reuters|date=2019-10-14|access-date=2019-11-01}}</ref><ref>{{citenews|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-army-moves-to-confront-turkish-forces-as-us-withdraws/|title=Syrian army moves to confront Turkish forces as US withdraws|website=Times of Israel|date=2019-10-14|access-date=2019-11-01}}</ref> Following the creation of the Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone the SDF stated that it was ready to merge with the Syrian Army if when a political settlement between the Syrian government and the SDF is achieved.<ref>{{citeweb|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-syria-security-idUKKBN1X319A|title=Syrian Kurds accuse Turkey of violations, Russia says peace plan on track|website=Reuters|date=2019-10-24|access-date=2019-11-01}}</ref>

===Kurdish question===
{{See also|Kurdistan|Kurdish nationalism}} [[File:Kurdish-inhabited area by CIA (1992).jpg|thumb|Kurdish-inhabited areas in 1992 according to the CIA ]]
The region's dominant political party, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), is a member organisation of the [[Organization:Kurdistan Communities Union|Kurdistan Communities Union]] (KCK) organization; however, the other KCK member organisations in the neighbouring states ([[Place:Turkey|Turkey]], [[Religion:Iran|Iran]] and Iraq) with Kurdish minorities are either outlawed ([[Place:Turkish Kurdistan|Turkish Kurdistan]], Iranian Kurdistan) or politically marginal with respect to other Kurdish parties (Iraq). Expressions of sympathy for Syrian Kurds have been numerous among Kurds in Turkey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kobani-means-turkeys-kurds|title=What Kobani Means for Turkey’s Kurds|publisher=The New Yorker|date=8 November 2014}}</ref> During the Siege of Kobanî, some ethnic Kurdish citizens of Turkey crossed the border and volunteered in the defense of the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/09/turkey-kurds-pkk-daglica-war-be-sustained-bloody-day.html|title=6 reasons why Turkey's war against the PKK won't last|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=2015-09-08|accessdate=2016-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328074432/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/09/turkey-kurds-pkk-daglica-war-be-sustained-bloody-day.html|archive-date=28 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/kurdish-militants-and-turkeys-new-urban-insurgency/|title=Kurdish Militants and Turkey’s New Urban Insurgency|publisher=War On The Rocks|date=2016-03-23|accessdate=2016-05-20}}</ref>

The region's relationship with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq is complicated. One context is that the governing party there, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), views itself and its affiliated Kurdish parties in other countries as a more conservative and nationalist alternative and competitor to the KCK political agenda and blueprint in general.<ref name="MiddleEastEye"/> The political system of Iraqi Kurdistan<ref>{{cite web|url=http://carnegie-mec.org/2015/08/17/kurdistan-s-politicized-society-confronts-sultanistic-system/ieta|title=Kurdistan’s Politicized Society Confronts a Sultanistic System|publisher=Carnegie Middle East Center|date=2015-08-18|accessdate=2016-06-08}}</ref> stands in stark contrast to the region's system. Like the KCK umbrella organization, the PYD has some anti-nationalist ideological leanings while having Kurdish nationalist factions as well.<ref name=musliminterview>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/08/syrian-kurdish-leader-will-respect-outcome-independence-referendum/|title=Syrian Kurdish leader: We will respect outcome of independence referendum|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-08-03|accessdate=2016-08-04}}</ref> They have traditionally been opposed by the Iraqi-Kurdish KDP-sponsored Kurdish National Council in Syria with more clear Kurdish nationalist leanings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/08/kurdish-national-council-announces-plan-setting-syrian-kurdistan-region/|title=Kurdish National Council announces plan for setting up ‘Syrian Kurdistan Region’|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-08-04|accessdate=2016-08-04}}</ref>

===International relations===

[[File:Salih Muslim & Ulla Jelpke.jpg|thumb|left|Salih Muslim, co-chairman of the region's leading Democratic Union Party (PYD) with Ulla Jelpke at Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Berlin]]

The region's role in the international arena is comprehensive military cooperation of its militias under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) umbrella with the {{wipe|United States}} and the international (US-led) coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.<ref>{{cite news|title=Inside Syria: Kurds Roll Back ISIS, but Alliances Are Strained|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/10/world/middleeast/syria-turkey-islamic-state-kurdish-militia-ypg.html|date=10 August 2015|accessdate=2016-10-28|work=New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=ANALYSIS: Kurds welcome US support, but want more say on Syria's future|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kurds-syria-us-general-292550977|date=23 May 2016|accessdate=2016-10-28|author=Wladimir von Wilgenburg|publisher=MiddleEastEye}}</ref> In a public statement in March 2016, the day after the declaration of the regions autonomy, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter praised the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia as having "proven to be excellent partners of ours on the ground in fighting ISIL. We are grateful for that, and we intend to continue to do that, recognizing the complexities of their regional role."<ref>{{cite web |title=Pentagon chief praises Kurdish fighters in Syria|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pentagon-chief-praises-kurdish-fighters-in-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nID=96609&NewsCatID=352|work=Hurriyet Daily News|date=18 March 2016|accessdate=2016-10-28}}</ref> Late October 2016, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the commander of the international Anti-ISIL-coalition, said that the SDF would lead the impending assault on Raqqa, ISIL's stronghold and capital, and that SDF commanders would plan the operation with advice from American and coalition troops.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.stripes.com/news/us-general-syrian-democratic-forces-will-lead-the-assault-on-raqqa-1.435953|publisher=Stars and Stripes|title=US general: Syrian Democratic Forces will lead the assault on Raqqa|date=26 October 2016|accessdate=2016-10-31}}</ref> At various times, the U.S. deployed U.S. troops embedded with the SDF to the border between the region and [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]], in order to deter Turkish aggressions against the SDF.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://calrev.org/2018/07/24/iraq-iranian-subversion-and-american-engagement/|title=Iraq: Iranian Subversion and American Engagement|last=Schrupp|first=Kenneth|date=2018-07-24|website=The California Review|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.voanews.com/a/us-troops-in-manbij-to-deter-skirmishes-between-turks-kurds/3752065.html|title=US Troops in Manbij to 'Deter' Skirmishes Between Turks, Kurds|work=VOA News|author=Carla Babb|date=6 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/01/tensions-rise-along-the-turkey-syria-border-pkk-ypg-erdogan|title=Ever-closer ties between US and Kurds stoke Turkish border tensions|work=The Guardian|date=1 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://syriadirect.org/news/kurdish-citizens-%E2%80%98rest-easy%E2%80%99-after-american-military-patrols-parade-through-cities-in-northern-syria/|title=Kurdish citizens ‘rest easy’ after American military patrols parade through cities in northern Syria|work=syriadirect.org|date=2 May 2017}}</ref><ref name=protection>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/05/turkey-syria-de-facto-protection-zone-for-kurds.html|title=How the US stood with Syria's Kurds|work=Al-Monitor|date=4 May 2017}}</ref> In February 2018, the United States Department of Defense released a budget blueprint for 2019 with respect to the region, which included $300 million for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and $250 million for border security.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/02/pentagon-budget-troop-levels-iraq-syria.html|title=Pentagon budget retains same troop levels in Iraq, Syria|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=12 February 2018|access-date=13 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213231319/https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/02/pentagon-budget-troop-levels-iraq-syria.html|archive-date=13 February 2018|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In April 2018, the President of {{wipe|France}}, Emmanuel Macron dispatched troops to Manbij and Rmelan in a bid to assist Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militias and in order to defuse tensions with Turkey.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.leparisien.fr/international/afrin-emmanuel-macron-recoit-une-delegation-du-rojava-29-03-2018-7636626.php|title=Syrie : Emmanuel Macron annonce l’envoi de soldats au secours des Kurdes|publisher=Le Parisien|language=French|date=29 March 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Demonstration in Afrin against Turkish military operation.png|thumb|A demonstration in the city of Afrin in support of the YPG against the Turkish invasion of Afrin, 19 January 2018]]

In the diplomatic field, the de facto autonomous region lacks any formal recognition. While there is comprehensive activity of reception of the region's representatives<ref>{{cite news|last1=Taştekin|first1=Fehim|title=Hollande-PYD meeting challenges Erdogan|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/turkey-france-kurdish-guerillas-elysee.html#|agency=Al-Monitor|date=12 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jinha.com.tr/en/ALL-NEWS/content/view/25309|title=YPJ Commander Nesrin Abdullah speaks in Italian Parliament|publisher=JINHA|date=2015-06-23|accessdate=2016-06-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://ekurd.net/kurdish-pyd-hdp-ocalan-athens-2016-02-17|title=Syrian Kurdish PYD, Turkey’s HDP leaders attend ‘Ocalan conference’ in Athens|publisher=eKurd|date=17 February 2016|accessdate=2016-10-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/foreign-affairs-committee/news/report-kurdistan-region/|title=Build Kurdistan relationship or risk losing vital Middle East partner – News from Parliament|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=2016-05-22}}</ref> and appreciation<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kurdishquestion.com/oldsite/index.php/kurdistan/west-kurdistan/rome-declares-kobane-sister-city.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20161213100544/http://kurdishquestion.com/oldsite/index.php/kurdistan/west-kurdistan/rome-declares-kobane-sister-city.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-12-13|title=Rome Declares Kobane 'Sister City'|publisher=Kurdishquestion|date=2015-04-05|accessdate=2016-08-19}}</ref> with a broad range of countries, only {{wipe|Russia}} has on occasion openly supported the region's political ambition of federalization of Syria in the international arena,<ref name="Al-Monitor"/><ref name="Now.MMedia/Al-Akhbar"/> while the U.S. does not.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mark C. Toner, Deputy Spokesperson. Daily Press Briefing. Washington, DC. November 7, 2016|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/11/264175.htm|work=United States Department of State|date=2016-11-07|accessdate=2016-11-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://aranews.net/2017/03/us-led-coalition-has-no-intention-to-create-federal-kurdish-state-in-syria-official/|publisher=Ara news|title=US-led coalition has no intention to create federal Kurdish state in Syria: official|date=30 March 2017|accessdate=2017-04-12}}</ref> After peace talks between Syrian civil war parties in Astana in January 2017, Russia offered a draft for a future constitution of Syria, which would, among other things, change the "Syrian Arab Republic" into the "Republic of Syria", introduce decentralized authorities as well as elements of federalism like "association areas", strengthen the parliament at the cost of the presidency, and realize [[Religion:Islam and secularism|secularism]] by abolishing Islamic jurisprudence as a source of legislation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Syria Opposition Rejects Russian Draft of New Constitution|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-25/syria-opposition-rejects-russian-draft-of-new-constitution|publisher=Bloomberg|date=25 January 2017|accessdate=26 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Syrian draft constitution recognizes Kurdish language, no mentions of federalism|url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/26012017|publisher=Rudaw|date=26 January 2017|accessdate=26 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|script-title=ar:رووداو تنشر مسودة الدستور السوري التي أعدها خبراء روس|url=http://www.rudaw.net/mobile/arabic/middleeast/syria/250120172|publisher=Rudaw |language=ar |accessdate=26 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Moscow invites Kurds and Syrian opposition to explain Astana|url=http://aranews.net/2017/01/moscow-invites-kurds-and-syrian-opposition-to-explain-astana/|publisher=ARA News|date=26 January 2017|accessdate=26 January 2017}}</ref> The region opened official representation offices in [[Place:Moscow|Moscow]] during 2016,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalia.info/new/10714/rojava-first-representation-office-outside-kurdistan-opens-in-moscow|title=Rojava's first representation office outside Kurdistan opens in Moscow|website=Nationalia|date=11 February 2016|accessdate=2016-10-28}}</ref> [[Place:Stockholm|Stockholm]],<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/04/syrian-kurds-inaugurate-representation-office-sweden/|title=Syrian Kurds inaugurate representation office in Sweden |date=2016-04-18|publisher=ARA News|language=en-US|access-date=2016-05-22}}</ref> [[Place:Berlin|Berlin]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evrensel.net/haber/279449/berlinde-rojava-temsilciligi-acildi|title=Berlin’de Rojava temsilciliği açıldı|date=2016-05-07|website=Evrensel.net|language=tr-TR|access-date=2016-05-22}}</ref> [[Place:Paris|Paris]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/05/24/Syrian-Kurds-open-unofficial-representative-mission-in-Paris-.html|title=Syrian Kurds open unofficial representative mission in Paris|publisher=Al Arabiya|date=2016-05-24|access-date=2016-05-22}}</ref> and [[Place:The Hague|The Hague]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://aranews.net/2016/09/syrian-kurds-inaugurate-representation-office-in-the-netherlands/|title=Syrian Kurds inaugurate representation office in the Netherlands|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-09-08|accessdate=2016-09-08}}</ref> A broad range of public voices in the U.S. and Europe have called for more formal recognition of the region.<ref name=meredith>{{cite web|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-10-14/rojava-model|title=The Rojava Model|author=Meredith Tax|publisher=Foreign Affairs|date=14 October 2016|accessdate=2016-10-28}}</ref><ref name=Sheppard/><ref>{{cite web|author=Steven A. Cook|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/turkey/2016-03-14/between-ankara-and-rojava/|title=Between Ankara and Rojava|work=Foreign Affairs|date=14 March 2016|accessdate=2016-06-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Kamran Matin|url=http://www.nrttv.com/en/birura-details.aspx?Jimare=4434|title=The Geneva Peace Talks on Syria and the Kurds|work=NRT|date=12 December 2016|accessdate=2016-12-18}}</ref> International cooperation has been in the field of educational and cultural institutions, like the cooperation agreement of Paris 8 University with the newly founded [[Organization:University of Rojava|University of Rojava]] in [[Place:Qamishli|Qamishli]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/08/rojava-university-seeks-eliminate-constraints-education-syrias-kurdish-region/|title=Rojava university seeks to eliminate constraints on education in Syria’s Kurdish region|publisher=ARA News|date=15 August 2016}}</ref> or planning for a {{wipe|France}} cultural centre in Amuda.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lejdd.fr/Culture/Livres/L-ecrivain-Patrice-Franceschi-veut-creer-un-centre-culturel-au-Kurdistan-syrien-778553|title=L’écrivain Patrice Franceschi veut créer un centre culturel au Kurdistan syrien|publisher=Europe1|date=27 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nrttv.com/EN/Details.aspx?Jimare=9371|title=French delegation seeks to open cultural center in Rojava|publisher=NRT|date=9 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/09/kurds-plan-set-french-institute-syria/|title=Kurds plan to set up French institute in Syria|publisher=ARA News|date=8 September 2016}}</ref>

Neighbouring [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]] is consistently hostile, which has been attributed to a perceived threat from the region's emergence, in that it would encourage activism for autonomy among Kurds in Turkey in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. In this context, in particular the region's leading Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the YPG militia being members of the [[Organization:Kurdistan Communities Union|Kurdistan Communities Union]] (KCK) network of organisations, which also includes both political and military Kurdish organizations in Turkey itself, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey's policy towards the region is based on an economic blockade,<ref name=meredith/> persistent attempts of international isolation,<ref name=OIC>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.tr/speech-by-h_e_-mevlut-cavusoglu_-minister-of-foreign-affairs-of-the-republic-of-turkey-at-the-meeting-of-council-of-foreign-mini.en.mfa|title=From Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs|access-date=28 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205011325/http://www.mfa.gov.tr/speech-by-h_e_-mevlut-cavusoglu_-minister-of-foreign-affairs-of-the-republic-of-turkey-at-the-meeting-of-council-of-foreign-mini.en.mfa|archive-date=5 December 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> opposition to the cooperation between the American-led anti-ISIL coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-president-erdogan-slams-us-over-ypg-support.aspx?PageID=238&NID=99783&NewsCatID=510|title=Turkish President Erdoğan slams US over YPG support|work=Hurryiet Daily News|date=28 May 2016|accessdate=2016-11-02}}</ref> and support of [[Religion:Islamism|Islamist]] opposition fighters hostile to the autonomous region,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lobelog.com/how-can-turkey-overcome-its-foreign-policy-mess/|title=How Can Turkey Overcome Its Foreign Policy Mess?|publisher=Lobolog (Graham E. Fuller)|date=2016-02-19|accessdate=2016-10-28}}</ref><ref name=menafn>{{cite web|url=https://menafn.com/1098284482/Syrias-Afrin-a-plundered-settlement-one-year-on |title=Syria's Afrin: a plundered settlement one year on |publisher=|accessdate=2018-03-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=44027|title=The Rise of Jaysh al-Fateh in Northern Syria|author=Wladimir van Wilgenburg|publisher=Jamestown Foundation|date=12 June 2015|accessdate=2016-10-28}}</ref> with some reports even including ISIL among these.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-phillips/research-paper-isis-turke_b_6128950.html|title=Research Paper: ISIS-Turkey Links|author=David L. Phillips|publisher=Huffington Post|date=11 September 2014|accessdate=2016-10-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/links-between-turkey-and-isis-are-now-undeniable-2015-7|title=Senior Western official: Links between Turkey and ISIS are now 'undeniable'|publisher=Businessinsider|date=28 July 2015|accessdate=2016-10-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meforum.org/5317/turkey-isis|title=Turkey's Double Game with ISIS|author=Burak Bekdil|publisher=Middle East Quarterly|date=Summer 2015|accessdate=2016-10-28}}</ref> Turkey has on several occasions militarily attacked the region's territory and defence forces.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/27/turkey-shells-kurdish-held-village-in-syria|title=Turkey accused of shelling Kurdish-held village in Syria|work=The Guardian|date=27 July 2015|accessdate=2016-06-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/02/turkey-bombs-kurdish-city-of-afrin-northern-syria-civilian-casualties-reported/|title=Turkey strikes Kurdish city of Afrin northern Syria, civilian casualties reported|publisher=ARA News|date=19 February 2016|accessdate=2016-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103054447/http://aranews.net/2016/02/turkey-bombs-kurdish-city-of-afrin-northern-syria-civilian-casualties-reported/|archive-date=3 November 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://europe.newsweek.com/turkeys-syria-intervention-sign-weakness-not-strength-501516|title=Turkey’s Syria Intervention: A Sign of Weakness Not Strength|author= Christopher Phillips|publisher=Newsweek|date=22 September 2016|accessdate=2016-10-28}}</ref> This has resulted in some expressions of international solidarity with the region.{{efn|Concerns over Turkish actions were expressed by US, Russian and Germany officials.<ref name=Tastekin>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/09/turkey-syria-intervention-wreck-arab-kurdish-alliance.html|title=US backing ensures Arab-Kurd alliance in Syria will survive|author=Fehim Taştekin|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=9 September 2016|accessdate=2016-10-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909181341/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/09/turkey-syria-intervention-wreck-arab-kurdish-alliance.html|archive-date=9 September 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iraqinews.com/baghdad-politics/germany-warns-turkey-attacking-kurds-syria/|title=Germany warns Turkey from attacking Kurds in Syria|work=Iraqi News|date=28 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://sputniknews.com/politics/201610211046579169-turkey-strikes-syria/|title=Moscow Concerned Over Turkish Airstrikes on Kurdish Positions in Syria – Lavrov|work=Sputnik News|date=21 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2016/10/statement-by-sasc-chairman-john-mccain-on-turkish-government-attacks-on-syrian-kurds|title=Statement by SASC Chairman John McCain on Turkish Government Attacks on Syrian Kurds|author=U.S. Senator John McCain, Chairman of the United States Senate Armed Services Committee|date=27 October 2016|access-date=28 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028084602/http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2016/10/statement-by-sasc-chairman-john-mccain-on-turkish-government-attacks-on-syrian-kurds|archive-date=28 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=protection />}}

On 9 October 2019, Turkey launched an attack on northern Syria "to destroy the terror corridor" on the Turkish southern border, as president Erdogan put it, after US President Donald Trump abandoned his support. Subsequent media reports have speculated that the offensive would lead to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/10/09/turkey-launches-an-attack-on-northern-syria?cid1=cust/dailypicks1/n/bl/n/2019109n/owned/n/n/dailypicks1/n/n/NA/322032/n|title=Turkey launches an attack on northern Syria|work=The Economist|access-date=2019-10-09|issn=0013-0613}}</ref>

===Syrian Constitutional Committee===

On November 20, 2019, a new Syrian Constitutional Committee began operating in order to discuss a new settlement and to draft a new constitution for Syria.<ref name="Astana Sabah">[https://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2019/12/10/regime-continues-to-violate-sochi-deal-amid-diplomatic-efforts-for-political-solution-in-syria Regime continues to violate Sochi deal amid diplomatic efforts for political solution in Syria] DAILY SABAH, ISTANBUL Published Dec. 10, 2019.</ref>  This committee comprises about 150 members. It includes representatives of the Syrian regime, opposition groups, and countries serving as guarantors of the process such as e.g. Russia. However, this committee has faced strong opposition from the Assad regime. 50 of the committee members represent the regime, and 50 members represent the opposition. The committee began its work in November 2019 in Geneva, under UN auspices. However, the Assad regime delegation left on the second day of the process.<ref name="Astana Sabah"/>

At a summit in October 2018, envoys from Russia, Turkey, France and Germany issued a joint statement affirming the need to respect territorial integrity of Syria as a whole. This forms one basis for their role as "guarantor nations." <ref name="Astana Sabah"/>

The second round of talks occurred around November 25, but was not successful due to opposition from the Assad regime.<ref name="Astana Sabah"/>  At the Astana Process meeting in December 2019, a UN official stated that in order for the third round of talks to proceed, co-chairs from the Assad regime and the opposition need to agree on an agenda.<ref name="Astana Sabah"/>

The committee has two co-chairs, Ahmad Kuzbari representing the Assad regime, and Hadi Albahra from the opposition. It is unclear if the third round of talks will proceed on a firm schedule, until the Assad regime provides its assent to participate.<ref name="Astana Sabah"/>

===EU conference===
In December 2019, the EU held an international conference which condemned any suppression of the Kurds, and called for the self-declared Automnomous Administration in Rojava to be preserved and to be reflected in any new Syrian Constitution. The Kurds are concerned that the independence of their declared Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) in Rojava might be severely curtailed.<ref>[https://www.brusselstimes.com/all-news/eu-affairs/84361/eu-condemns-turkey-again-while-sticking-to-its-position-on-the-kurdish-administration-in-north-east-syria/ EU condemns Turkey again while sticking to its position on the Kurdish administration in north-east Syria], Tuesday, 17 December 2019.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Place:Iraqi Kurdistan|Iraqi Kurdistan]]
* Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book
|last1= Allsopp
|first1= Harriet
|last2= van Wilgenburg
|first2= Wladimir 
|title= The Kurds of Northern Syria. Volume 2: Governance, Diversity and Conflicts
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9vWlDwAAQBAJ
|date= 2019
|publisher= I.B. Tauris
|location= London; New York City; etc.
|isbn= 978-1-8386-0445-5
|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book
|last= Lister
|first= Charles R.
|title= The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency
|url= https://archive.org/details/CharlesR.ListerTheSyrianJihadAlQaedaTheIslamicStateAndTheEvolutionOfAnInsurgency.
|date= 2015
|publisher= [[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]]
|location= Oxford
|isbn= 9780190462475
|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last1=Sinclair|first1=Christian|last2=Kajjo|first2=Sirwan|chapter=The Evolution of Kurdish Politics in Syria|editor1=David A. McMurray|editor2=Amanda Ufheil-Somers|ref=harv|title=The Arab Revolts. Dispatches on Militant Democracy in the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RQIXtU-EYN4C|date=2013|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington, Indiana|isbn=978-0-253-00975-3|pages=177–187}}
*{{cite book|last=Tejel|first=Jordi|ref=harv|title=Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4f54qsU618C|date=2009|publisher=[[Company:Routledge|Routledge]]|location=Abingdon-on-Thames, {{wipe|New York City}}|isbn=978-0-415-42440-0}}
*{{cite book
|last= Zabad
|first= Ibrahim
|title= Middle Eastern Minorities: The Impact of the Arab Spring
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XiAlDwAAQBAJ
|date= 2017
|publisher= [[Company:Routledge|Routledge]]
|location= London; New York City
|isbn= 978-1-472-47441-4
|ref=harv}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://civiroglu.net/the-constitution-of-the-rojava-cantons/ The 2014 Constitution of the Rojava Cantons]
* [http://anarchism.pageabode.com/andrewnflood/resources-rojava-revolution-kurdistan-syria Resources on the Rojava revolution in West Kurdistan (Syria)]
* [https://libcom.org/library/rojava-revolution-reading-guide 'Rojava Revolution' Reading Guide]


[[Category:Upper Mesopotamia]]

{{Sourceattribution|Rojava|1}}