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Western Kurdistan Rojavayê Kurdistanê
Flag
Anthem:  Ey Reqîb Oh Enemy
Status	de facto Autonomous region of Syria
Capital	Qamişlo (Qamishli)
languages	Kurdish Arabic Aramaic
Demonym(s)	Kurd
Government	Interim government
• President	Salih Muslim Muhammad
Autonomous region
• Autonomy Proposed	July 2013
• Autonomy Declared	November 2013
• Regional government established	November 2013
• Interim Constitution Adopted	January 2014
Time zone	UTC+3
Drives on	Right
Calling code	+963
Internet TLD	.sy

Politics of Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
Symbols Symbols of Rojava
Constitution Libertarian socialism Human rights
Legislature and Government Syrian Democratic Council Executive Council
Elections March 2015 (Local) September 2017 (Local) December 2017 (Regional)
Political parties Democratic Union Party (PYD) Syriac Union Party (SUP) Wheat Wave Movement (QMH) Syrian National Democratic Alliance (SNDA) Honor and Rights Convention (HRC) Yekîtiya Star (YS) Arab National Coalition (ANC) Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDP-S) Syrian Kurdish Democratic Party (PDKS 1970) Kurdish Democratic Unity Party (PYDKS or Yek-Dem) Syrian Democratic Society (SDS) Democratic Modernity Party (DM) Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party (PB-ASD) Left Party of Syrian Kurds (LPSK) Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party (PDPKS) Assyrian Democratic Party (ADP) Syrian Kurds' Democratic Peace Party (PADKS) Democratic Transformation Party (DT) Kurdistan Liberal Union Party (PYLK) Kurdish Democratic Accord Party (Wifaq) Syrian Reform Movement (Islah) Yazidi House (Êzîdî) Syriac National Council (SNC) Patriotic Initiative (PI)
Party alliances Democratic Nation List (LND)/Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) Kurdish National Alliance in Syria (HNKS) Assembly for Democracy and the Left (KDCK) Kurdish National Council (ENKS) Syria's Tomorrow Movement (TM)
Administrative regions Jazira Region Euphrates Region Afrin Region
Foreign relations Relations with the Syrian government YPG-FSA Syrian Kurdish–Islamist conflict Rojava conflict Kurdish nationalism Iraqi Kurdistan
Other countries
v t e

Syrian Kurdistan or Western Kurdistan (Kurdish: Rojavayê Kurdistanê), also commonly referred to simply as Rojava (the West in Kurdish), is a de facto autonomous region in northern and north-eastern Syria. Syrian Kurdistan is part of the larger geographic area of Kurdistan, which refers to parts of eastern Turkey (Turkish Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), northwestern Iran (Iranian Kurdistan) and northern Syria (Syrian Kurdistan) inhabited mainly by Kurds. Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges. Since 2012, much of Syrian Kurdistan has been controlled by Kurdish militias as part of the Syrian Civil War and in November 2013 representatives from Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and other smaller minorities declared a de facto government in the region.

Etymology

The name Kurdistan literally means Land of the Kurds. In the Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as Kurdistan Region. The name is prefixed by "Syrian" or "Western", referring to the relative geographic or political designation of the region. In the Kurdish language, the name is simply Rojava meaning the West in Kurdish.

History

During the Syrian civil war

During the Syrian civil war, the Popular Protection Units (YPG) were created under the administration of the Kurdish Supreme Committee to control the Kurdish inhabited areas in Syria. On 19 July 2012, the YPG captured the city of Kobanê (Ayn al-Arab), and the next day captured Amûdê and Efrîn. The two main Kurdish groups, the Kurdish National Council (KNC) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), afterwards formed a joint leadership council to run the captured cities. By 24 July, the Syrian Kurdish cities of Dêrika Hemko (Al-Malikiyah), Serê Kaniyê (Ra's al-'Ayn), Dirbêsî (Al-Darbasiyah) and Girkê Legê (Al-Ma'bada) had also come under the control of the Popular Protection Units. The only major Kurdish inhabited cities that remained under government control were Hasaka and Qamishli.

Geography

The Autonomous Government is made up of three cantons (Cizîr (Al-Jazeera), Kobanê and Efrîn)

Notable Kurdish inhabited cities in Syria

Arab cities in northeastern Syria

• Jarabulus
• Tell Abyad
• Qamishli (mixed population)
• Al-Hasakah (mixed population)

Assyrian cities in northeastern Syria

• Qamishli (ܒܝܬ ܙܐܠܝ̈ܢ Beṯ Zālin) (mixed population)
• Al-Qahtaniyah (ܩܒܪ̈ܐ ܚܘܪ̈ܐ Qabre Ḥewore) (mixed population)
• Al-Hasakah (ܚܣܟܗ, ܓܨܪܛܐ) (mixed population)
• Khanik (ܚܢܝܟ)
• Tell Chamiram
• Tel Nasri
• Al-Malikiyah (ܕܪܝܟ Derik)

Politics

The Kurdish Supreme Committee was an interim governing body of Syrian Kurdistan, 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 consisted of an equal number of PYD and KNC members.

Military

The Kurdish Supreme Committee's armed wing is the Popular Protection Units, effectively forming the military force of Syrian Kurdistan.

Culture

Archaeological sites in northeastern Syria

• Urkesh
• Hamoukar
• Tell Arbid
• Tell Barri
• Tell Beydar
• Tell Brak
• Tell Chuera
• Tell Halaf
• Tell Leilan

See also

• Al-Jazira province
• Iranian Kurdistan
• Iraqi Kurdistan
• Turkish Kurdistan

References

1. "West Kurdistan divided into three cantons". ANF. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
2. ^ Erdoğan and Barzani’s main theme: Rojava - CONTRIBUTOR
3. The secret garden of the Syrian Kurdistan
4. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2005.
5. Kurdistan, BritannicaConcise.
6. PYD Announces Surprise Interim Government in Syria’s Kurdish Reg
7. "Full Text of Iraqi Constitution". The Washington Post. October 12, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
8. ^ "More Kurdish Cities Liberated As Syrian Army Withdraws from Area". Rudaw. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
9. "Armed Kurds Surround Syrian Security Forces in Qamishli". Rudaw. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
10. "Girke Lege Becomes Sixth Kurdish City Liberated in Syria". Rudaw. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
11. "Kurdish Supreme Committee in Syria Holds First Meeting". Rudaw. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
12. "Now Kurds are in charge of their fate: Syrian Kurdish official". Rudaw. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2014.

External links

v t e Places adjacent to Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
Turkey  Turkey  Turkey  Syria  Syrian Kurdistan  Iraqi Kurdistan  Syria  Syria  Iraq

• Kurds in Syria
• Kurdistan independence movement
• Kurdistan
• Geography of Syria
• Politics of Syria
• Autonomous regions
• States and territories established in 2013
• Fertile Crescent