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 libertarian socialist US-backed Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Salih Muslim Muhammad is the co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main party of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. As the deputy coordinator of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, he has been the most prominent Kurdish representative for much of the Syrian civil war.
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.
Euphrates Region, formerly Kobanî Canton, is the central of three original regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, comprising Ayn al-Arab District of the Aleppo Governorate, Tell Abyad District of the Raqqa Governorate, and the westernmost tip of the Ras al-Ayn Subdistrict of the Ras al-Ayn District of Al-Hasakah Governorate. Euphrates Region unilaterally declared autonomy in January 2014 and since de facto is under direct democratic government in line with the polyethnic Constitution of Rojava.
The Women's Protection Units (YPJ) 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 countries and international organizations in the area.
Asya Abdullah is a Kurdish politician working to establish democratic autonomy in Rojava, Northern Syria. Asya Abdullah is the current co-chairwoman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the former co-chair of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) coalition, and serves as a senior permanent member of the Syrian Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), serving in its upper administrative body. She has presented at numerous conferences to reach out to activists, academics and world leaders to garner support for the Kurdish political project in Rojava.
Hêvî Îbrahîm Mustefa, is the Democratic Union Party (PYD) prime minister of the Afrin Region, a de facto autonomous region of the Democratic Federation of North and East Syria.
The Kobanî massacre was a combination of suicide missions and attacks on Kurdish civilians by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on the Kurdish-majority city of Kobanî, beginning on Thursday, 25 June 2015, and culminating on Friday, 26 June 2015. The attacks continued into 28 June 2015, with the last remaining ISIL militant being killed on the following day. The attacks resulted in 223–233 civilians dead, as well as 35–37 Kurdish militiamen and at least 79 ISIL assailants. It was the second-largest massacre committed by ISIL since it declared a caliphate in June 2014.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The SDF is allied to and supplied by the United States–led CJTF–OIR international alliance. Founded on 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 view the group as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it has designated 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.
Narin Afrin is the nom de guerre of Meysa Abdo, a leader of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), Women's Protection Units (YPJ), and Kobane resistance, notably during the 2014–2015 Siege of Kobanî.
The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is a de facto autonomous region of Syria that emerged from 2012 onwards during the Syrian civil war and in particular the Rojava conflict. The current administration emphasises gender equality and pluralistic tolerance for religious and cultural diversity.
Rojda Felat is a Syrian Kurdish senior commander of the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who has fought in the Rojava conflict since it began in 2012, and has led several major campaigns against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). A revolutionary feminist, Felat's stated goal is to achieve social transformation in the Middle East through the YPJ, "liberating the Kurdish woman and the Syrian woman in general from the ties and control of traditional society, as well as liberating the entirety of Syria from terrorism and tyranny".
Kimberley Taylor, also known as Zilan Dilmar, is an English fighter with the Kurdish Women's Protection Units (YPJ) and the first British woman to join a female militia in Syria. She is a member of the YPJ's combat media team and was present at the Battle of Raqqa in 2017.
The YPG International or People's Protection Units International is a military unit made up of foreign fighters in the Syrian Democratic Forces. It was created in December 2016 as the Antifascist International Tabûr (AIT) of the People's Protection Units (YPG). The unit is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Syrian Civil War.
Farhad Abdi Shaheen, better known by his nom de guerreMazlum Kobane, is a Syrian Kurdish military leader, serving as the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Viyan Peyman was an Iranian Kurdish singer and fighter with the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) who was killed fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Syria in 2015.
Kobanê is a 2022 Kurdish war film about the Siege of Kobanî fought from October 2014 to January 2015 between the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) against the Islamic State. The film is directed by Özlem Yasar and produced by the Rojava Film Commune. It was shot in Al-Thawrah and Tebqa in Syria. The film focuses on the role of Kurdish women in the fighting.
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