Assyrians in Syria also known as Syriacs are an ethnic and linguistic minority that are indigenous to Upper Mesopotamia, the north-eastern half of Syria. Syrian-Assyrians are people of Assyrian descent living in Syria, and those in the Assyrian diaspora who are of Syrian-Assyrian heritage.
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 Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, 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 Internal Security Forces, also known as the Asayish in the Jazira, Euphrates, and Afrin Regions, is the internal security and police force in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Formed in the early stages of the Syrian Civil War, it had initially been established to police areas controlled by the Kurdish Supreme Committee. In October 2013, the Asayish claimed to have 4,000 members; by 2017, the number had reportedly risen to over 15,000.
The Jazira Region, formerly Jazira Canton, is the largest of the three original regions of the de facto Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). As part of the ongoing Rojava conflict, its democratic autonomy was officially declared on 21 January 2014. The region is in the Al-Hasakah Governorate of Syria.
A number of different symbols have been used to represent the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), commonly known as Rojava. The Autonomous Adminisrtation adopted an official emblem in December 2018. The emblem consists of the words "Autonomous Administration" in Arabic, surrounded by seven red stars representing the regions of northeast Syria, as well as a branch of olives and spike of wheat, two crops grown in the region. Surrounding all of the symbols is the words "Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria" written in Arabic, Kurmanji, Syriac, and Turkish, the languages spoken in the region. The blue and yellow semicircles the whole emblem is put upon represents the Euphrates river and the "permanent spring" of the region. A flag with the Autonomous Administration's emblem on a white field is also used occasionally to represent the Administration itself.
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.
The Khabour Guards is an Assyrian militia in Syria created after the collapse of Syrian government control in the Assyrian-majority Khabur valley in the northwest of al-Hasakah Governorate. The militia is composed of local Assyrians and maintains checkpoints in several Assyrian settlements, most notably Tell Tamer. It was initially established as an independent force, but is now affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Though officially neutral and nonpartisan, the Khabour Guards are de facto affiliated with the Assyrian Democratic Party along with Nattoreh, and as a part of the Syriac-Assyrian Military Council of the Syrian Democratic Forces, they are affiliated with the Syriac Union Party.
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 Forces of the Brave, generally called the al-Sanadid Forces, are a militia formed by the Arab Shammar tribe to fight against the Islamic State. Even though the tribe's Syrian strongholds are mostly in the Jazira Canton of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, such as at al-Yaarubiyah and Tell Hamis, the militia operates throughout most of the AANES. The red colour in their flag represents blood while the yellow represents the light, calling themselves “marchers on the red death”. The al-Sanadid Forces are affiliated with the co-governor/co-president of Jazira Canton and tribal leader Humaydi Daham al-Hadi, and are led by Humaydi's son Bandar al-Humaydi.
The Christian militias in Iraq and Syria are predominantly Assyrian militias that have been formed since the start of the Syrian Civil War and the War in Iraq (2013-17). Although they are primarily composed of Assyrian fighters, they also include Arab and Armenian irregulars from Christian communities in Syria and Iraq. Assyrians in Iraq have formed militias in the north to protect Assyrian communities, towns and villages in the Assyrian homeland and Nineveh Plains. Some foreign Christian fighters from the Western world have also joined these militias.
The Federal Executive Council or simply the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, acts as a joint coordination committee that oversees the implementation of policies developed by the Federal Assembly of the Syrian Democratic Council.
Self-Defense Forces is a multi-ethnic territorial defense militia and the only conscripted armed force in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. As a self-defense force, manpower for the HXP is recruited locally.
Îlham Ehmed, also rendered as Îlham Ahmed, is a Kurdish politician from Syria and a member of Democratic Union Party currently serving as the co-president of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) and member of the executive committee of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) coalition. Until July 2018, she was a co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), a political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces that acts as the legislature for Rojava.
Dawronoye is a secular, leftist, national liberation movement among the Assyrian people. Ideologically characterized by progressive ideas and including socialist elements, its founding roots can be traced to the late 1980s in the town of Midyat in Turkey. The modern manifestation of the movement is controversial among Assyrian organizations worldwide, particularly due to its ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
The Assyrian Democratic Party is an Assyrian political party active in Syria, that traditionally represents the interests of the Eastern Assyrians of the Khabur valley. Although aiming for the peaceful implementation of democracy in Syria, the party has generally sided and cooperated with the Ba'athist government since the 1990s. In course of the Syrian Civil War, the Assyrian Democratic Party has come to be closely affiliated with the Khabour Guards and Nattoreh. It is part of the Syrian Democratic Council of Rojava.
The Assyrian People's Guard – Nattoreh is an Assyrian militia of the Syrian Democratic Forces. It is based in the Khabur valley town of Tell Tamer northwest of Al-Hasakah, an area with a large Assyrian population, in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The militia is composed of local Assyrians and, along with the Khabour Guards, is affiliated with the Assyrian Democratic Party.
The first local elections in the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria were held on 22 September 2017. Representatives of 3,700 communes in the regions of the Northern Syria Federation were selected in the election, involving 12,421 candidates. The communal elections on 22 September were followed by elections of local councils in December and a federal parliamentary election of the People's Democratic Council, the region's highest governing body, in 2018. Some areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces were not included in the election, including the city of Manbij.
The Democratic Conservative Party, also known simply as the Conservative Party, is a political party founded in 2017 that operates in Rojava, a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria.
The 2024 Rojava local elections were set to be held on 8 August 2024. Seats and co-mayorships for 134 municipalities within the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)'s seven regions were to be contested by 5,336 candidates.
