Who are the Kurds?

As portion of its program to unify the state pursuing 14 years of brutal civilian war, Syria’s authorities announced it had reached a ceasefire agreement with the secular-led, Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) connected Sunday. Under the agreement, the authorities volition instrumentality implicit onshore held by the Kurdish equipped group.

Despite this, Syria’s service and the SDF some reported ongoing weapon battles successful the state connected Monday, successful peculiar astir a situation holding ISIL (ISIS) members successful the municipality of al-Shadadi.

What was agreed connected Sunday?

President Ahmed al-Sharaa said the Syrian Army would instrumentality power of 3 eastbound and northeastern provinces – Raqqa, Deir Az Zor and Hasakah – from the SDF arsenic portion of the deal.

On Monday, an authoritative from Syria’s Defence Ministry said government-affiliated forces had arrived connected the outskirts of the Kurdish-led metropolis of Hasakah successful the country’s northeast per this agreement.

The SDF is present to beryllium integrated into Syria’s defence and interior ministries arsenic portion of a broader 14-point agreement.

Al-Sharaa’s authorities pledged to reunify Syria pursuing the ousting of erstwhile President Bashar al-Assad successful December 2024. On Friday, al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a “national language” and granting the number radical authoritative recognition.

“What [we] are witnessing present successful the portion is the extremity of the SDF,” Omar Abu Layla, a Syrian affairs analyst, told Al Jazeera.

The SDF successful Syria represents the conflict of the Kurdish people, an taste radical contiguous crossed the Middle East.

Who are the Kurds?

The Kurds are a radical of radical who are indigenous to the Mesopotamian plains and adjacent highlands which, today, agelong crossed southeastern Turkiye, northeastern Syria, bluish Iraq, northwestern Iran and southwestern Armenia. The Kurdish colonisation is concentrated successful these areas, which are collectively referred to arsenic Kurdistan.

Kurds are, therefore, dispersed crossed respective antithetic countries successful the Middle East and bash not person a authorities of their own. They besides person a ample diaspora population, chiefly successful Germany but besides successful different European countries including France, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

There are betwixt 30 and 40 cardinal Kurdish radical astir the globe. Kurds are wide understood to beryllium the largest stateless taste radical successful the world, connected by a shared civilization and the Kurdish language.

Kurdish, a Northwestern Iranian language, has respective chiseled dialects that alteration by region. Most historians hold that Kurds represent the Iranian subdivision of the Indo‑European peoples.

While astir Kurds are Sunni Muslims, determination are besides Kurdish communities that travel Shia Islam, Alevism, Yazidism, Christianity and different faiths.

(Al Jazeera)

Why are the Kurds stateless?

The Kurds mislaid their lands successful the 1500s erstwhile the Ottoman Empire took implicit astir Kurdish-held territory.

The Ottoman Empire was dissolved by the 1920 Treaty of Sevres, a post-World War I bid treaty.

Under this, the Allied powers projected creating an autonomous Kurdistan. This was seen arsenic a large breakthrough for the emerging Kurdish nationalist movement, but the pact ne'er came into force. Turkiye aboriginal renegotiated the post-war colony with the Allies, and the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne dropped the thought of a self-governing Kurdistan altogether.

Since then, Kurds person repeatedly tried to found their ain state, but those efforts person truthful acold failed.

(Al Jazeera)

How bash Kurdish grievances disagree successful Syria, Turkiye, Iran and Iraq?

In each of the 4 nations, Kurds person endured years of tricky relations with respective governments.

Syria

Kurds marque up astir 10 percent of the colonisation successful Syria, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Syria’s Kurds person experienced repression and unfair treatment.

In 1962, a peculiar census successful al-Hasakah state stripped astir 120,000 Kurds of Syrian citizenship. Their children and grandchildren remained stateless, and aboriginal estimates from aboriginal 2011 enactment the fig of Kurds without citizenship astatine astir 300,000.

Kurdish onshore has besides been distributed to Arab communities nether Arabisation policies.

The Kurds were initially neutral erstwhile the uprising against al-Assad began successful 2011 and escalated into a civilian war. However, successful 2012, Syrian authorities troops pulled retired of galore Kurdish areas, and Kurdish groups took control.

In 2013, fighters from ISIL (ISIS) began attacking 3 Kurdish areas successful bluish Syria that bordered the equipped group’s territory. The People’s Protection Units (YPG) – a Syrian Kurdish equipped radical that is the subject helping of the Syrian Kurdish governmental party, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) – fought them off. The YPG was backed by the Turkiye-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

In 2014, ISIL seized the Syrian Kurdish municipality of Kobane connected the Turkish border. After months of dense fighting, Kurdish forces, led by the YPG and backed by United States-led aerial strikes, regained power of the municipality successful aboriginal 2015. Later that year, successful October 2015, the YPG and allied Arab and different factions formally established the SDF arsenic a broader conjugation to combat ISIL crossed bluish and eastbound Syria.

In October 2017, the SDF captured Raqqa, the de facto superior of ISIL successful Syria, and past pushed into Deir Az Zor, ISIL’s past large stronghold. By March 2019, the SDF had taken Baghouz, the past portion of ISIL-held territory successful Syria.

Al-Assad remained successful powerfulness until helium was ousted successful December 2024 by Syrian absorption fighters led by al-Sharaa, who is present the interim president.

As portion of his efforts to unite Syria, al-Sharaa connected Friday issued a decree formally recognising Kurdish arsenic a “national language” alongside Arabic, allowing it to beryllium taught successful schools, and restoring citizenship to each Kurdish Syrians. The decree besides abolishes measures dating backmost to a 1962 census successful Hasakah state that actively stripped galore Kurds of Syrian nationality.

The decree officially recognises Kurdish individuality arsenic portion of Syria’s nationalist cloth for the archetypal clip and declares Newroz, the Kurdish New Year festival, a paid nationalist holiday.

It besides grants Kurdish Syrians rights, bans taste oregon linguistic discrimination, requires authorities institutions to follow inclusive nationalist messaging, and sets retired penalties for “incitement to taste strife”.

In a statement, the Kurdish medication successful Syria’s northbound and northeast said the decree was “a archetypal step, however, it does not fulfill the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people”. It called for much action.

“Rights are not protected by impermanent decrees, but… done imperishable constitutions that explicit the volition of the radical and each components of a society,” it said.

Turkiye

Kurds marque up 19 percent of the colonisation of Turkiye but, for generations, person experienced erasure, with Kurds displaced and their names and costumes banned.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was founded successful 1978 by Abdullah Ocalan, with the purpose of creating an autarkic Kurdish authorities successful southeastern Turkiye. In 1984, the radical launched an equipped rebellion against the Turkish state, carrying retired guerrilla attacks connected information forces and authorities institutions.

The ensuing struggle betwixt the PKK and Turkish information forces has killed tens of thousands of radical and displaced galore much successful Kurdish-majority areas.

In the 1990s, the PKK rolled backmost its demands, alternatively seeking greater taste recognition. It continued its equipped absorption against the Turkish state, alongside its efforts to physique a broader governmental and societal question done affiliated parties and organisations.

The SDF’s secular Kurdish enactment is linked to the Turkish-based PKK. Although the PKK signalled successful aboriginal 2025 that it would laic down its arms and disband, it is inactive listed arsenic a “terrorist” radical by Turkiye, the European Union and the US. Sporadic clashes betwixt PKK fighters and Turkish forces person continued.

Despite this, the US backed the SDF due to the fact that it was an effectual spouse successful warring ISIL, which the SDF and a US-led conjugation had defeated successful northeastern Syria by 2019.

Iran

Kurdish radical marque up astir 10 percent of Iran’s population.

The 1979 Islamic Revolution led to the overthrow of the shah and the constitution of the Islamic Republic successful Iran.

While the Kurds initially supported the Islamic Republic and concisely controlled parts of Iran, Iran’s mostly Sunni Muslim Kurdish assemblage has often clashed with the Persian-speaking, Shia Muslim authorities successful Tehran implicit Kurdish demands for governmental autonomy and taste and linguistic rights.

Several Kurdish groups person agelong opposed the authorities successful occidental Iran, wherever they signifier a majority, and determination person been periods of progressive rebellion against authorities forces successful those areas.

Kurdish uprisings successful Iran successful the 1980s and 1990s were met with dense repression. Key Kurdish parties were pushed retired of their strongholds, and galore of their leaders and fighters relocated crossed the borderline to bases successful the Kurdish portion of bluish Iraq. Civilian communities were besides forced into Iraq, though ample Kurdish communities remained wrong Iran.

In 2004, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) was formed arsenic an equipped conflict against the Islamic Republic successful Iran. Since then, it has carried retired guerrilla attacks and ambushes connected Iranian information forces from bases successful the mountains on the Iran-Iraq border.

Iraq

Kurdish radical marque up betwixt 15 and 20 percent of the colonisation successful Iraq. While they person historically enjoyed much rights than the Kurds successful neighbouring countries, they person inactive faced repression successful Iraq.

Kurdish nationalist person Mustafa Barzani formed the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to combat for autonomy successful Iraq successful 1946. In 1961, helium launched a afloat equipped conflict successful what is often referred to arsenic the First Kurdish–Iraqi War oregon the September Revolution.

The struggle lasted into the 1970s, with on-and-off clashes successful the bluish provinces of Iraq. Then, successful the precocious 1970s, the authorities began settling Arabs connected Kurdish onshore and displacing Kurds. Some of them – galore Yazidis – settled successful “Mujammaat” oregon army-controlled towns oregon settlements successful bluish Iraq.

In 1991, the twelvemonth that Iraq mislaid the Gulf War, Barzani’s son, Masoud Barzani of the KDP, and Jalal Talabani of the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led a Kurdish uprising successful Iraq. It was violently crushed by the medication of then-President Saddam Hussein. More than 1.5 cardinal Iraqi Kurds fled to Turkiye to flight a crackdown by Hussein’s regime. Turkiye unopen its borders successful response. Thousands died on the border, and the United Nations acceptable up a “safe zone” for refugees successful bluish Iraq successful April 1991. Eventually, astir radical returned to their homes successful Iraq aft the concern stabilised.

In 1992, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was formed by the Kurdistan National Assembly, the archetypal democratically elected parliament successful Iraq’s Kurdistan region. After the UN guaranteed extortion for the Kurds successful 1991, Saddam Hussein’s authorities permitted the KRG to instrumentality implicit medication of what is present the semi-autonomous Kurdish portion successful bluish Iraq.

While the KDP and PUK agreed to stock power, they experienced rifts and astatine times engaged successful equipped warring with each different betwixt 1994 and 1998.

However, successful 2003, the 2 groups cooperated with the US to unseat Hussein. The KRG, led by Masoud Barzani, ruled 3 provinces: Duhok, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. In 2005, Talabani became Iraq’s archetypal Kurdish president.

In 2017, the KRG held an independency referendum successful the semi-autonomous Kurdish portion and successful disputed, Kurdish-claimed territories specified arsenic Kirkuk, which is southbound of Erbil successful bluish Iraq. More than 90 percent of voters backed independence, but Baghdad rejected the canvass arsenic illegal.

The Iraqi Supreme Court ruled that the referendum was contrary to the Iraqi Constitution, which calls for the preservation of Iraq’s unity and territorial integrity.

Iraqi forces past moved successful and retook Kirkuk and different disputed, fragmented areas, depriving the Kurds of cardinal lipid revenues and dealing a large stroke to their ambitions for statehood.

In the aftermath of that, Masoud resigned arsenic determination president, and the station remained vacant until 2019, erstwhile his nephew, Nechirvan Barzani, was elected president of the KRG.