The Democratic Union Party is a Kurdish left-wing political party established on 20 September 2003 in northern Syria. It is a founding member of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change. It is the leading political party among Syrian Kurds. The PYD was established as a Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in 2003,and both organizations are still closely affiliated through the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).
The People's Defense Units (YPG),also called People's Protection Units,is a Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). YPG provides updates about its activities through YPG Press Office Telegram channel and social media accounts.
The Kurdish National Council is a Syrian Kurdish political party. While the KNC had initially more international support than the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) during the early years of the Syrian civil war and a strong supporter basis among some Syrian Kurdish refugees,the overwhelming popular support the PYD enjoys has eroded support for the KNC in Syrian Kurdistan,losing almost all popular support.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES),also known as Rojava,is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin,Jazira,Euphrates,Raqqa,Tabqa,Manbij,and Deir Ez-Zor. The region gained its de facto autonomy in 2012 in the context of the ongoing Rojava conflict and the wider Syrian civil war,in which its official military force,the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),has taken part.
The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces (Arabic:الائتلافالوطنيلقوىالثورةوالمعارضةالسورية),commonly named the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) (Arabic:الائتلافالوطنيالسوري),or the Syrian National Revolutionary Coalition (SNRC) is a coalition of opposition groups in the Syrian civil war that was founded in Doha,Qatar,in November 2012. Former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus,Moaz al-Khatib,considered a moderate,was elected the president of the coalition,and resigned on 21 April 2013. Riad Seif and Suheir Atassi,both prominent democracy activists and the latter a secular human rights advocate,were elected vice presidents. The post of a third vice president will remain vacant for a Kurdish figure to be elected. Mustafa Sabbagh was elected as the coalition's secretary-general. The coalition has a council of 114 seats,though not all of them are filled.
The Rojava–Islamist conflict,a major theater in the Syrian civil war,started after fighting erupted between the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Islamist rebel factions in the city of Ras al-Ayn. Kurdish forces launched a campaign in an attempt to take control of the Islamist-controlled areas in the governorate of al-Hasakah and some parts of Raqqa and Aleppo governorates after al-Qaeda in Syria used those areas to attack the YPG. The Kurdish groups and their allies' goal was also to capture Kurdish areas from the Arab Islamist rebels and strengthen the autonomy of the region of Rojava. The Syrian Democratic Forces would go on to take substantial territory from Islamist groups,in particular the Islamic State (IS),provoking Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War.
The siege of Kobanî was launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on 13 September 2014,in order to capture the KobanîCanton and its main city of Kobanîin northern Syria,in the de facto autonomous region of Rojava.
The Women's Protection Units or Women's Defense Units is an all-female militia involved in the Syrian civil war. The YPJ is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces,the armed forces of Rojava,and is closely affiliated with the male-led YPG. While the YPJ is mainly made up of Kurds,it also includes women from other ethnic groups in Northern Syria.
The foreign relations of Rojava are the external relations of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The AANES,consisting of three regions,was formed in early 2014 in the context of the Syrian Civil War,a conflict that has caused the involvement of many different countries and international organizations in the area.
The Battle of Sarrin refers to a military operation during 2015 in the northeastern Aleppo Governorate,during the Syrian Civil War,conducted by Kurdish YPG and allied forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the town of Sarrin,in an effort to capture the town and the surrounding region.
The Tell Abyad offensive or Martyr Rubar Qamışlo operation was a military operation that began in late May 2015 in the northern Raqqa Governorate,during the Syrian Civil War. It was conducted by the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The offensive took place from the end of May until July 2015. The campaign was the second phase of the Kurdish Operation Commander Rûbar Qamishlo,which began with the Al-Hasakah offensive,and involved the merger of the Kobanîoffensive with the former. The focus of the campaign was to capture the key border town of Tell Abyad,and to link the Kobanîand Jazira Cantons in Northern Syria.
AANES–Syria relations concern the military and political relations between the Ba'athist Syrian Arab Republic and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES),a de facto autonomous multi-ethnic region in northern and eastern Syria. The Syrian government does not officially recognise the autonomy of the AANES,and advocates a centralist approach to the governance of Syria. The NES seeks the federalisation of Syria. For most of the Syrian civil war,there has been a non-aggression pact between the military of Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces,with occasional confrontations and some cooperation against Islamist groups,in particular against the Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. While the two sides co-operated militarily under Russian supervision since 2019,with Syrian and Russian troops stationed along the Turkish border to prevent further advances,political negotiations have ended in failure. The Syrian government has no authority or institutions in North and East Syria outside of its two security boxes in Qamishli/Qamislo and Al-Hasakah/Heseke. The Autonomous Administration does not allow the Syrian Government to hold elections in areas under its control.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurdish-led coalition formed by ethnic militias and rebel groups,and serves as the official military wing of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The SDF is allied to and supplied by the United States–led CJTF–OIR international alliance. Founded in 10 October 2015,the SDF claims that its mission is fighting to create a secular,democratic and federalized Syria. The SDF is opposed by Turkey,who claims the group has direct links to the PKK,which it recognizes as a terrorist group.
The Rojava conflict,also known as the Rojava Revolution,is a political upheaval and military conflict taking place in northern Syria,known among Kurds as Western Kurdistan or Rojava.
The Syria's Tomorrow Movement is a Syrian opposition party founded in March 2016 in Cairo by Ahmad Jarba,a Syrian National Council member. The party was backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and cooperates with the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces,although it is not part of the coalition. They also cooperate with the Syrian Democratic Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
In the early morning of 25 April 2017,the Turkish Air Force conducted multiple airstrikes against media centers and headquarters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in northeastern Syria,and against positions of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ) on Mount Sinjar,northwestern Iraq. The airstrikes killed 20 YPG and YPJ fighters in Syria in addition to five Peshmerga soldiers in Iraq.
The al-Hasakah Governorate campaign was a multi-sided military conflict between Syrian government forces,Kurdish forces,armed Syrian opposition groups,and Salafist jihadist forces,including al-Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the al-Nusra Front in the al-Hasakah Governorate as part of the Syrian Civil War. The clashes began with the People's Protection Units (YPG)'s entrance into the civil war in July 2012 and spread across the governorate.
Kurdistan Region–Syria relations are bilateral relations between Kurdistan Region and Syria. Kurdistan Region and Syria are neighbors,but Kurdistan Region only borders PYD-held Rojava since the Syrian civil war. Kurdistan Region and Syria share two border-crossings,and 237,364 Syrian refugees remained in Kurdistan Region in December 2023.
Anarchism in Syria emerged as a largely disorganized movement during the authoritarian rule of the Assad government,but following the initiation of the Arab Spring has been a particularly notable factor in the Rojava conflict during the civil uprising phase of the Syrian civil war.
The Peshmerga Roj,also known as Rojava Peshmerga,are the military wing of the Kurdish National Council and KRG in Syria. They are pro-KDP and take orders from President Barzani of Iraqi Kurdistan.
