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When Bashar al-Assad’s authorities collapsed successful December 2024, galore hoped it would people the extremity of Syria’s years-long civilian strife. Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly Abu Muhammad al-Golani), who emerged arsenic the country’s interim leader, pledged to signifier an inclusive administration. But the past twelvemonth has been marked by a resurgence of sectarian unit against the Alawites successful the westbound and the Druze assemblage successful the south. In the latest flare-up, warring broke retired successful the country’s northeast, betwixt authorities forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF has been pushed retired of parts of eastbound Syria it erstwhile controlled, and, contempt a ceasefire, a tense standoff persists betwixt Kurdish militias and authorities forces successful the country’s Kurdish areas. The renewed unit present threatens to unravel the autonomy Syria’s Kurds person exercised since the 2011 civilian war.
Who are the main Kurdish actors?
Syria’s Kurds, who marque up astir 10% of the country’s population, person agelong demanded autonomy for the Kurdish-populated regions successful the northbound and east. When the Assad authorities was forced to retreat troops from the northeast successful 2012, amid the civilian war, Kurdish parties, councils and militias moved swiftly to capable the vacuum by establishing their ain administrative structures. Several Kurdish regions (called ‘cantons’) came unneurotic to state autonomy from the Syrian state, and found the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), besides known arsenic Rojava.
The main enactment successful Rojava is the left-leaning Democratic Union Party (PYD), whose ideology is rooted successful the ‘democratic confederalism’ championed by Abdullah Ocalan, the person of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Another large governmental histrion is the Kurdistan National Council (KNC), which is aligned with the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party. The main equipped militia successful Rojava is the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is aligned with the PYD, the ruling party. The YPG and its women’s brigade YPJ gained prominence successful 2014-15 arsenic they defeated Islamic State (IS) jihadists successful Syria’s Kobane, a predominantly Kurdish region. After their victories against the IS successful Syria’s northbound and east, the U.S. started offering them aerial screen successful the battles against jihadists. In 2015, with the blessings of the U.S., the Kurdish leaders formed the SDF with Arab and different number militias, with the YPG being its halfway component.
Why did warring interruption out?
The question of Kurdish autonomy emerged instantly aft the Assad authorities fell. Mr. Sharaa, formerly the main of al-Qaeda’s Syria branch, wanted to found a centralised authorities successful Damascus — an thought pushed backmost by the country’s taste and spiritual number communities. In March 2025, Mr. Sharaa and SDF commandant Mazloum Abdi signed an integration agreement, laying retired principles for integrating the SDF and different administrative units into the Syrian state. But the Kurds were wide connected 1 constituent — they did not privation to forfeit the autonomy they had built implicit much than a decade. In an interrogation with The Hindu in May, Salih Muslim Muhammad, co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) said that “nobody wants different centralised authorities successful Syria”.
The Shaara-Abdi statement promised to soma retired the details of integration by the extremity of the year, but that deadline passed without progress. Tensions mounted arsenic Damascus projected deploying its troops successful Kurdish regions. While the Syrian authorities wanted to widen its power crossed the state which it thinks is indispensable for reasserting its sovereignty, Kurdish leaders argued that losing subject power of the northbound and eastbound would imperil their autonomy. As talks stalled successful aboriginal January, Mr. Sharaa’s forces moved into the Arab neighbourhoods of Aleppo, which were controlled by Kurdish forces. Fighting soon followed and authorities forces asserted power wrong days, forcing the SDF to retreat to the northeast.
What does Damascus want?
While the Syrian authorities forces withdrew successful 2012 and different rebel and jihadist groups were preoccupied with their battles against Damascus during the civilian war, the IS exploited the vacuum to found a coagulated beingness successful Syria’s east. But the YPG, the Kurdish militia, emerged arsenic captious ft soldiers successful the warfare against the IS. The archetypal large decision the IS faced was astatine the hands of the YPG. In the pursuing years, the YPG (or the SDF, the expanded version) became the cardinal anti-IS unit connected the crushed successful Syria portion the U.S. provided them aerial cover. They controlled the regions they liberated from the IS and established Rojava. The Assad authorities tolerated Kurdish autonomy due to the fact that it was preoccupied with different problems.
Now, Mr. Sharaa, who has been emboldened by the planetary designation helium has achieved, wants to extremity Kurdish autonomy. He has taken a two-pronged approach. On January 16, amid ongoing warring betwixt authorities forces and the SDF, Mr. Sharaa issued a decree formally recognising Kurdish arsenic a “national language” and offering citizenship to each Syrian Kurds. He besides declared Newroz, the caller twelvemonth festival celebrated by Kurds, arsenic a nationalist holiday. But helium said thing astir Kurdish autonomy. His program is to springiness taste concessions portion taking power of the Kurdish militias militarily.
Where bash Turkiye and the U.S. stand?
Turkiye sees the PYD (the governmental party) and the YPG (the militia) arsenic extended arms of the PKK (the Turkiye-based Kurdish radical which has been designated arsenic a violent entity by Ankara and its Western allies). Mr. Sharaa and his group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) are adjacent allies of Turkiye. Ankara backed Mr. Sharaa’s program to integrate the Kurdish administrative and subject structures into the Syrian state. When Kurds resisted the move, successful December 2025, Turkiye warned against them. In the past, Turkiye had carried retired subject operations to propulsion Kurdish forces distant from the Syria-Turkish borderline and make a buffer. Now that a bid process is nether mode successful Turkiye betwixt the authorities and the PKK, Ankara believes weakening of the SDF crossed the borderline would fortify its manus and weaken the wide Kurdish propulsion for confederational autonomy.
The U.S. connected the different broadside backed the SDF successful the combat against the IS. The U.S. inactive has immoderate 900 troops successful Syria, mostly successful the Kurdish northeast. But Washington has warmed up to Damascus aft Mr. Sharaa, a erstwhile designated violent who carried a $10 cardinal State Department bounty connected his head, captured power. Mr. Sharaa visited Washington successful November 2025 and met Mr. Trump aft which Syria announced that it would articulation the U.S.-led conjugation to combat the IS. Now that the U.S. has Damascus, it doesn’t request the Kurds to support its beingness successful Syria. The U.S. and Turkiye besides find communal crushed successful establishing a centralised Syria, by strengthening the hands of Sharaa, truthful that the power of Iran and Russia could beryllium gradually neutralised.
What lies ahead?
After seizing the SDF-held regions of Aleppo, Mr. Sharaa’s forces turned to areas betwixt Aleppo and the Euphrates River. These predominantly Arab-populated regions were captured by the SDF betwixt 2015 and 2019 aft it drove retired the IS. SDF positions subsequently collapsed crossed Raqqa and Deir al-Zour, some erstwhile IS strongholds. Reports besides emerged of interior cracks wrong the SDF, with immoderate Arab militias breaking ranks with YPG commanders. Dozens of IS members escaped from a situation successful Hassaka which was caught successful the crossfire. On January 18, Mr. Abdi, the SDF commander, agreed to a ceasefire and integration deal. Mr. Sharaa insists that the subject integration of the SDF beryllium undertaken connected an “individual basis”— not arsenic units. The ceasefire statement besides asks the SDF to manus implicit Raqqa and Deir al-Zour provinces “administratively and militarily” to the government; to integrate each administrative institutions successful al-Hassaka into authorities structures; to manus implicit each borderline crossings and lipid and state fields; and to expel each non-Syrian members of the PKK from Syria.
But determination seems to beryllium superior disagreements connected the grade of autonomy Kurds would retain. The statement affirms the request “to support the peculiar quality of the Kurdish areas”. The SDF seems acceptable to springiness up Raqqa and Deir al-Zour, but they don’t privation to springiness up their positions successful Kobane, al-Hassaka and Qamishli. While the Sharaa authorities wants to extremity the SDF’s section monopoly connected the usage of force, the SDF doesn’t privation authorities troops to beryllium deployed successful Kurdish areas. A Kurdish typical based successful Europe told The Hindu that the autonomous medication has called for a wide mobilisation. “Kobane is present nether siege. But Kurdish fighters are defending their positions,” helium said.
