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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 Supreme Committee was a self-proclaimed governing body in Northern Syria, which was founded by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish National Council (KNC), following the signing on 12 July 2012 of a cooperation agreement between the two parties in Hewlêr, Iraqi Kurdistan under the auspice of the Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani. The member board consists of an equal number of PYD and KNC members.
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 Battle of Ras al-Ayn was a series of armed clashes for control of the town of Ras al-Ayn during the Syrian Civil War, mainly between the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) and an alliance of Syrian rebel groups, with the occasional involvement of the Syrian Armed Forces. As result of the battle's first phase, the Syrian Army was expelled from the city by Syrian rebels, whereupon the latter attacked the YPG-affiliated fighters in Ras al-Ayn. In the following months, the city was effectively divided into rebel-held and YPG-held areas, with intermittent fighting resulting in the gradual expansion of the YPG's territory in the city and its surroundings. Islamist and jihadist factions soon became dominant among the rebels in the region, further contributing to tensions with the secular-leftist YPG. In July 2013, the battle's final phase erupted and ended when an alliance of YPG-led troops completely expelled the rebels from Ras al-Ayn.
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 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 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.
Relations between the People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are unclear and varied among the different FSA factions. Both are opposed to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. However, several clashes between the two have taken place. Under pressure from the United States, some FSA groups coordinate with the YPG to battle ISIL under the name of the Syrian Democratic Forces, although some other FSA groups remained in conflict with the YPG and the SDF, including FSA groups in the SDF.
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 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 Descendants of Saladin Brigade was a Free Syrian Army group active in the northern Aleppo Governorate. The group was supported by Turkey and was initially funded and armed by the United States, mainly fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant but also opposing the Syrian government and the Democratic Union Party's (PYD) affiliates such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The brigade was largely disbanded by the Turkish Army in 2017, following disagreements over the participation in a planned Turkish-led offensive against Afrin Canton, although a small faction within the group remained active and participated in the offensive since January 2018.
Rojava–Kurdistan Region relations refers to the relationship between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and the Government of Iraq's Kurdistan Region. While they share much culturally, they also have many political differences. There has been military cooperation with Kurdistan Region and the United States in the conflict against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), although neither gives official support for Rojava or its People's Protection Units (YPG). The Kurdistan Regional Government enforced a unilateral economic blockade against Rojava which has damaged and limited the region's economy. The "Sultanistic system" of Iraqi Kurdistan stands in stark contrast to the democratic confederalist system of the Rojava.
The Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party in Syria is one of the oldest Kurdish parties in Syria, having been active since seceding from the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria the 1960s. Prominently led by Abd al-Hamid Darwish for much of its history, who was described as "one of the last remaining of the original Kurdish political activists", the PDPKS serves as the Syrian sister party of the Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Known for its moderate and conciliatory politics, the party has sided at different times during the Syrian Civil War with the Syrian opposition, the Ba'athist government, the Kurdish National Council, and the Democratic Union Party.
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 Saladin Ayubi Brigade was a mainly-Syrian Kurdish armed rebel group that fought in the Syrian Civil War as part of the Free Syrian Army. Formed in May 2012 and named after the early Kurdish Muslim leader Saladin, the group was led by defected Syrian Army Captain Bewar Mustafa and fought against Syrian government forces in and around the city of Aleppo. It was also strongly opposed to the Kurdish-led Democratic Union Party (PYD), and have clashed with the PYD-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) several times.
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.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Nuri Mahmoud Biography" (PDF). National Security Division/Foreign Agents Registration Act .
- ↑ Kurds Say They Abide by UN Ceasefire in Syria , retrieved 2023-03-26
- ↑ Zaman, Amberin (26 June 2020). "US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia offers rare apology to rivals amid unity talks - Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East". Al-Monitor . Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ↑ "Locals express concern over Turkish escalation in northern Syria". North Press Agency. 2022-04-27. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ↑ "AANES discusses challenges of political process in Syria with French Senate". North press agency. 2023-03-25. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ↑ "French Senate honors the YPG and YPJ". Firat News Agency . Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ↑ "In appreciation of their sacrifices...French Senate honor YPJ". Hawar News Agency . Retrieved 2023-03-26.