The role of Iraqi Kurdistan in the Syrian-Kurd Pursuit of Autonomy

Aljazeera Center of Studies

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The role of Iraqi Kurdistan in the Syrian-Kurd Pursuit of Autonomy

The green, white, and red flag with a centered star has been flying high in the Kurdish areas of Syria since President Bashar al-Assad withdrew government forces.1There is, in fact, a tacit agreement between Assad and the Syrian Kurds; the latter are free to act, as long as they do not attack Damascusi Since they liberated their cities, the Syrian Kurds have had their first taste of autonomy and have prevented both government and Free Syrian Army troops from entering the territory. They are guided by the example of strong and autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, which has been emerging since 1991, and they are preparing to ensure their own rights in a post-Assad Syria. This opportunity, however, is tempered by anxiety. With the diplomatic brokering led by Iraqi Kurd President Massoud Barzani, the two main Syrian Kurdish groups (formerly bitter rivals), namely, the Kurdistan National Council (KNC) and the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD), have unified to form the Supreme Kurdish Council, much like the rivaling Iraqi Kurd groups, the KDP and the PKK, did after gaining autonomy. The calls for a pan-Kurdish ‘Greater Kurdistan’ – a joining of the Syrian and Iraqi movements into a single entity – however, are low.

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Syrian Kurds form their own council in Arbil

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Riot police stand guard as Syrian Kurds protest in front of the UN office in Arbil to demand the departure of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. AFP photo

Syrian opposition Kurdish parties are preparing to announce the formation of their own “National Kurdish Council” in the northern Iraqi capital of Arbil, the Hürriyet Daily News has learned.


“There will be a meeting of the Syrian Kurdish groups on Jan. 21 in Arbil. The Kurdish parties participating in the meeting will make a call to all the other Syrian Kurdish parties to join them,” Kendal Efrini, a Syrian Kurdish opposition member and representative of the Alliance of Syrian Liberals in Europe, told the Hürriyet Daily News in an interview on Wednesday.


Dr. Abdul Hakim Bashar, secretary-general of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria, will lead the National Kurdish Council, which will become the second national council established by opposition forces after the establishment of the Syrian National Council.


France-based Efrini said he would also attend the meeting. “Right now, there are five or six Kurdish parties joining the National Kurdish Council. We want to broaden this council as much as possible.”

A member of the Syrian National Council who wished to remain anonymous said most of the leaders of the Syrian Kurdish parties had been staying in Arbil under the protection of the Kurdistan Regional Government for some time.


“We don’t know yet whether they will achieve their goal of uniting the Kurdish parties under one umbrella – we need time to see that,” he said.


The Syrian National Council described itself as the largest Syrian opposition group – including Islamists, leftists, liberals, Arabs, Christians and Kurds – when it was established in Istanbul on Aug. 29, 2011 under the leadership of Burhan Ghalioun.


There are around 15 different Kurdish parties in Syria, a few of which are represented in the Syrian National Council.

January/19/2012