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Syrian Kurdistan or Western Kurdistan (Kurdish: Rojavayê Kurdistanê), often shortened to Rojava, is regarded by many Kurds^[1]^[2]^[3] and some regional experts as the part of Kurdistan in Syria,^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15] much as they view southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), and northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan).^[16]^[17] There is ambiguity about its geographical extent, and the term has different meanings depending on context. Around 80% of Syrian Kurds live in Kurdish-majority regions along the Syria-Turkey border.^[18]

History of the term

Although Kurdish nationalism has a long history,^[19] the extent of Kurdistan has been disputed over time.^[4] Kurds have lived in territory which is now part of the Syrian Arab Republic for centuries,^[20]^[21] and following the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Kurdish population was divided between its successor states Turkey, Mandatory Iraq andthe Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.^[22] Before the 1980s, Kurdish-inhabited areas of Syria were usually regarded as "Kurdish regions of Syria".^[4] Local Kurdish parties generally maintained ideologies which stayed in a firmly Syrian nationalist framework, and did not aspire to an independent Kurdish state.^[23] In the 1920s, there were two separate demands for autonomy for the areas with a Kurdish majority, from Nouri Kandy, an influential Kurd from the Kurd Mountains, and another from the Kurdish tribal leaders of the Barazi confederation. Neither was taken into consideration by the French authorities of the Mandate, which included Syrian Kurdistan in its short-lived State of Aleppo instead.^[24]

References to Syrian territory being part of Kurdistan became more widespread among Syrian Kurds in the 1980s and 1990s,^[25] a development fueled by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which was based in Syria after Hafez al-Assad had given it safe haven after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état. The PKK presence strengthened Kurdish nationalism in Syria, where local Kurdish parties had previously lacked "a clear political project" related to a Kurdish identity, partially due to political repression by the Syrian government.^[26] Despite the role of the PKK in encouraging aspirations toward an independent Kurdistan, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) (the Syrian successor of the PKK)^[27] and the PKK no longer aspire to an independent Kurdish state.^[28] Today they call for the removal of state borders in general, as the two parties, along with the rest of the Kurdistan Communities Union, believe that there is no need for the creation of a separate Kurdish state, as their internationalist project would allow for the removal of the borders that divide Kurdistan through indirect means.^[2]

The idea of a Syrian Kurdistan gained even more relevance after the start of the Syrian Civil War, as Kurdish-inhabited areas in northern Syria fell under the control of Kurdish-dominated factions. The PYD established an autonomous administration in northern Syria which it sometimes called 'Rojava' or 'West Kurdistan'.^[2]^[29]^[30] By 2014, many Syrian Kurds used these names to refer to northeastern Syria.^[1] Kurdish nationalist parties, such as the Kurdish National Council (KNC), began to raise demands for the establishment of a Syrian Kurdish state, raising concerns from Syrian nationalists and some observers.^[31] As the PYD-led administration gained control over increasingly ethnically diverse areas, however, the use of "Rojava" for the merging proto-state was gradually reduced in official contexts,^[32] although the polity continued to be called Rojava by locals and international observers,^[33]^[34]^[35]^[36] with journalist Metin Gurcan noting that "the concept of Rojava [had become] a brand gaining global recognition" by 2019.^[34]

Extent

Syrian Kurdistan, like the rest of Kurdistan, is not clearly defined, and its extent is subject to varying interpretations.^[4] Following the partition of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the Ottoman Kurdish population was divided between its successor states Turkey, the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, and Mandatory Iraq. Syrian Kurdistan is adjacent to Turkish Kurdistan in the north and Iraqi Kurdistan in the east.^[38] Depending on their different interpretations, most ethnographic maps show two or three separate Kurdish-majority regions along the Syria-Turkey border.

The most generous portrayals of Syrian Kurdistan are those of Kurdish nationalists, who have produced maps that show what they consider to be Syrian Kurdistan. This is usually a narrow strip along the Syria-Turkey border that thickens toward the east. Two maps by Ekurd Daily from 2012 and 2013 included all of northern Syria, including the entire al-Hasakah Governorate, the north of Deir ez-Zor Governorate, northern Raqqa Governorate, and northern Aleppo Governorate, as well as the areas of the Idlib Governorate bordering Turkey's Hatay Province, in 'Western Kurdistan'.^[39]^[40] By 2013, Syrian Kurdistan had become synonymous with PYD-ruled areas, regardless of ethnic majorities. For the most part, the term was used to refer to the "non-contiguous Kurdish-populated areas" in the region.^[30] A 2015 map by Kurdish National Council (KNC) member Nori Brimo was published which largely mirrored the Ekurd Daily's maps, but also included the Hatay Province, thus giving this version of Western Kurdistan access to the Mediterranean. These maps include the large swaths of Arab-majority areas in between the major Kurdish regions.^[31]

Demographic history and its effects on government policy

Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, and make up between 5 and 16 percent of the Syrian population as of 2011—between 1.6 and 2.5 million people, although these figures don't include Arabized Kurds.^[41]^[42]^[43]^[44]^[45]^[46] The Kurdish population in Syria is relatively small in comparison to the Kurdish populations in nearby countries, such as Turkey (14.4–16 million), Iran (7.9 million), and Iraq (4.7–6.2 million).^[46] The majority of Syrian Kurds speak Kurmanji, a Kurdish dialect spoken in Turkey and northeastern Iraq and Iran.^[47] Many of Syria's Kurds live in Aleppo and Damascus, which are not considered part of Kurdistan.

It is estimated that at the beginning of the 20th century an unknown number of Kurds lived in the Kurd-Dagh region; 16,000 Kurds lived in the Jarabulus region; and an unknown number lived in the Jazira province, where they were likely the majority.^[48] In the 1920s after the failed Kurdish rebellions in Kemalist Turkey, there was a large migration of Kurds to Syria's Jazira province. It is estimated that 25,000 Kurds fled at this time to Syria.^[49] According to Stefan Sperl, these Kurdish newcomers constituted no more than 10% of the Kurdish population of Jazira at the time. All were granted citizenship by the French mandate authorities, who recognized their agricultural skills.^[50] French official reports show the existence of 45 Kurdish villages in Jazira prior to 1927. A new wave of refugees arrived in 1929.^[51] The mandatory authorities continued to encourage Kurdish migration to Syria, and by 1939, the villages numbered between 700 and 800.^[51] Sperl's estimation contradicts the estimates of the French geographers Fevret and Gibert,^[52] who estimated that in 1953 out of the total 146,000 inhabitants of Jazira, agriculturalist Kurds made up 60,000 (41%), nomad Arabs 50,000 (34%), and a quarter of the population were Christians.^[52]

Even though Kurds have a long history in Syria, the Syrian government has used the fact that many Kurds fled to Syria during the 1920s to claim that Kurds are not indigenous to the country and to justify its discriminatory policies against them.^[53]^[54] Many Arabic-speaking Kurds are classified as Arabs by the Arab nationalist Syrian government.^[55]

Controversies

The term Syrian Kurdistan is often used in the context of Kurdish nationalism, which makes it a controversial concept among proponents of Syrian and Arab nationalism.^[56]^{[better source needed]} Extremist Kurdish nationalists have used the concept of Syrian Kurdistan to portray Arabs in Upper Mesopotamia as foreign "settler herds", sometimes using the relatively small 1970s migration involved in the Arab Belt (similar to the government's use of the 1920s Kurdish migration) as justification, thus contributing to regional ethnic tensions. A book review by PhD candidate Mustapha Hamza of The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth argued that the "Syrian 'Kurdish issue' can only be resolved within the framework of a purely Syrian national solution, outside the inventions of 'West Kurdistan', and in a way that sets Syrian Kurds within the context of belonging to Syrian society and its institutionalized state form as the Syrian Arab Republic", an Arab nationalist stance common among Syria's Arab citizens.^[56]^{[better source needed]}

References

^ ^a ^b "Special Report: Amid Syria's violence, Kurds carve out autonomy". Reuters. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kaya, Z. N., & Lowe, R. (2016). The curious question of the PYD-PKK relationship. In G. Stansfield, & M. Shareef (Eds.), The Kurdish question revisited (pp. 275–287). London: Hurst.
^ Pinar Dinc (2020) The Kurdish Movement and the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria: An Alternative to the (Nation-)State Model?, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 22:1, 47-67, DOI: 10.1080/19448953.2020.1715669
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Tejel (2009), p. 95. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)
^ Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland, (2014), by Ofra Bengio, University of Texas Press
^ Lowe, Robert (2014), Romano, David; Gurses, Mehmet (eds.), "The Emergence of Western Kurdistan and the Future of Syria", Conflict, Democratization, and the Kurds in the Middle East: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, pp. 225–246, doi:10.1057/9781137409997_12, ISBN 978-1-137-40999-7, retrieved 2020-11-10
^ Riamei, Mr Lungthuiyang (2017-08-15). Kurdistan: The Quest for Representation and Self-Determination: The Quest for Representation and Self-Determination. KW Publishers Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-86288-87-5.
^ Schmidinger, Thomas (2014). Krieg und Revolution in Syrisch-Kurdistan: Analysen und Stimmen aus Rojava (in German). Mandelbaum. ISBN 978-3-85476-636-0.
^ Radpey, Loqman (12 August 2016). "Kurdish Regional Self-rule Administration in Syria: A new Model of Statehood and its Status in International Law Compared to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq". Japanese Journal of Political Science. 17 (3): 468–488. doi:10.1017/S1468109916000190. ISSN 1468-1099.
^ Gunter, Michael M. (2016). The Kurds: A Modern History. Markus Wiener Publishers. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-558766150.
^ Nikitine, Basile (1956). Les Kurdes, Études sociologique et historique. Imprimerie Nationale. pp. 39–40.
^ Kaya, Zeynep N. (2020). Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism. Cambridge University Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-1-108-47469-6.
^ Izady, Mehrdad (2015-06-03). Kurds: A Concise Handbook. Taylor & Francis. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-135-84490-5.
^ "Kurdistan | History, Religion, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
^ Meho, Lokman I.; Maglaughlin, Kelly L. (2001). Kurdish Culture and Society: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-313-31543-5.
^ Khalil, Fadel (1992). Kurden heute (in German). Europaverlag. pp. 5, 18–19. ISBN 3-203-51097-9.
^ Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland, (2014), by Ofra Bengio, University of Texas Press, p. 1.
^ "KURDISH POPULATION IN SYRIA". Sahipkıran Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi - SASAM (in Turkish). 2014-08-05. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
^ Tejel (2009), p. 69. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)
^ Meri (2006), p. 445.
^ Vanly (1992), pp. 115–116.
^ Gunter, Michael M. (2016), p.87
^ Tejel (2009), p. 86. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)
^ Tejel (2009), pp. 27–28. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)
^ Tejel (2009), pp. 93–95. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)
^ Tejel (2009), p. 93. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)
^ Allsopp & van Wilgenburg (2019), p. 28.
^ Tejel (2009), p. 123. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)
^ Kurdish Regional Self-rule Administration in Syria: A new Model of Statehood and its Status in International Law Compared to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq
^ ^a ^b "Flight of Icarus? The PYD's Precarious Rise in Syria" (PDF). International Crisis Group: Middle East Report N°151. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2020. : "The Middle East's present-day borders stem largely from the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement between France and the UK. Deprived of a state of their own, Kurds found themselves living in four different countries, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The term 'rojava' ('west' in Kurdish) refers to the western area of 'Kurdistan'; today in practice it includes non-contiguous Kurdish-populated areas of northern Syria where the PYD proclaimed a transitional administration in November 2013.".
^ ^a ^b ^c Mohamed Al Hussein (21 February 2020). "Map of proposed Syrian Kurdistan provoke questions". zamanalwsl. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
^ Allsopp & van Wilgenburg (2019), pp. 89, 151–152.
^ "Turkey's military operation in Syria: All the latest updates". al Jazeera. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b Metin Gurcan (7 November 2019). "Is the PKK worried by the YPG's growing popularity?". al-Monitor. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
^ "The Communist volunteers fighting the Turkish invasion of Syria". Morning Star. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
^ "Nordsyrien: Warum ein Deutscher sein Leben für die Kurden riskiert" [Northern Syria: Why a German risks his life for the Kurds]. ARD (in German). 31 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
^ The Kurdish Project. "Syria (Rojava or Western Kurdistan)". Retrieved 8 November 2020.
^ Gunter, Michael M. (2016). The Kurds: A Modern History. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-558766150.
^ "Kurdish autonomy in Syria troubling for rebels, Turkey". Ekurd Daily. 7 October 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
^ Jonathan Spyer (9 March 2013). "Syrian Kurdistan: The Kurds Are for the Kurds". Ekurd Daily. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
^ Fabrice Balance (2018). Sectarianism in Syria's Civil War (PDF) (Online ed.). Washington, DC: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Retrieved 25 June 2019. In this atlas, French geographer Balanche suggests that "As of 2010, Syria’s population was roughly 65% Sunni Arab, 15% Kurdish, 10% Alawite, 5% Christian, 3% Druze, 1% Ismaili, and 1% Twelver Shia." (page 13) "The number of Kurds in Syria is often underestimated by analysts, who tend to cap them at 10% of the population. In fact, they are closer to 15%."(page 16) The 2018 breakdown is 1% Sunni Arab, 16% Kurdish, 13% Alawite, 3% Christian, 4% Druze, 1% Ismaili, 1% Twelver Shia, 1% Turkmen (page 22) Balanche also refers to his Atlas du ProcheOrient Arabe (Paris: Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2011), p. 36."
^ Darke, Diana (2010-01-01). Syria. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-84162-314-6.
^ "Who are the Kurds?" (Online ed.). BBC News. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017. Kurds make up between 7% and 10% of Syria's population.
^ "Who are Syria's minority groups?" (Online ed.). Special Broadcasting Service. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2017. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, constituting around 10 per cent of the population - around 2 million of the pre-conflict population of around 22 million.
^ "Kurdish Population in Syria" (Online ed.). 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2017. Various proportions are predicted for Kurds. For example McDowall[8] and O’shea[9] predict 8%, Bruinessen predicts 8.5%,[10] Chailand predicts 10%[11]. Vanly, Kurdish writer, stated that Kurds must be at least 7% of Syrian population
^ ^a ^b World Factbook (Online ed.). Langley, Virginia: US Central Intelligence Agency. 2019. ISSN 1553-8133. Retrieved 25 June 2019. CIA estimates are as of June 2019^[update] "Ethnic groups: Arab ~50%, Alawite ~15%, Kurd ~10%, Levantine ~10%, other ~15% (includes Druze, Ismaili, Imami, Nusairi, Assyrian, Turkoman, Armenian)"
^ Tejel, Jordi (2009). Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society. London: Routledge. p. 8. ISBN 0-203-89211-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
^ Jordi Tejel, translated from the French by Emily Welle; Welle, Jane (2009). Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society (1. publ. ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 10. ISBN 0-203-89211-9.
^ McDowell, David (2005). A Modern History of the Kurds (3. revised and upd. ed., repr. ed.). London [u.a.]: Tauris. p. 469. ISBN 1-85043-416-6.
^ Kreyenbroek, Philip G.; Sperl, Stefan (1992). The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. London: Routledge. pp. 147. ISBN 0-415-07265-4.
^ ^a ^b Tejel, Jordi (2009). Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society. London: Routledge. p. 144. ISBN 0-203-89211-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
^ ^a ^b Fevret, Maurice; Gibert, André (1953). "La Djezireh syrienne et son réveil économique". Revue de géographie de Lyon (in French) (28): 1–15. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
^ Yildiz, Kerim (2005). The Kurds in Syria: The Forgotten People (1. publ. ed.). London [etc.]: Pluto Press, in association with Kurdish Human Rights Project. pp. 25. ISBN 0-7453-2499-1.
^ Youssef M. Choueiri (2005). A Companion to the History of the Middle East (Hardcover ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 475. ISBN 1-4051-0681-6.
^ https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/rojavas-sustainability-and-the-pkks-regional-strategy
^ ^a ^b Hamza Mustapha, 2018 Review: The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth

Works cited

Allsopp, Harriet; van Wilgenburg, Wladimir (2019). The Kurds of Northern Syria. Volume 2: Governance, Diversity and Conflicts. London; New York City; etc.: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-8386-0445-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Tejel, Jordi (2009). Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society. Abingdon-on-Thames, New York City: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-42440-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Meri, Josef W. (2006). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Volume 1: A - K. New York City, London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-96691-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Vanly, Ismet Chériff (1992). "The Kurds in Syria and Lebanon". In Philip G. Kreyenbroek; Stefan Sperl (eds.). The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. New York City, London: Routledge. pp. 112–134. ISBN 978-0-415-96691-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

Syria (Rojava or Western Kurdistan) by The Kurdish Project
Examining the Experiment in Western Kurdistan by the LSE Middle East Centre
The Emergence of Western Kurdistan and the Future of Syria by Robert Lowe

[Reuters_2014-1] "Special Report: Amid Syria's violence, Kurds carve out autonomy". Reuters. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2020.

[kaya-2] Kaya, Z. N., & Lowe, R. (2016). The curious question of the PYD-PKK relationship. In G. Stansfield, & M. Shareef (Eds.), The Kurdish question revisited (pp. 275–287). London: Hurst.

[3] Pinar Dinc (2020) The Kurdish Movement and the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria: An Alternative to the (Nation-)State Model?, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 22:1, 47-67, DOI: 10.1080/19448953.2020.1715669

[FOOTNOTETejel200995-4] Tejel (2009), p. 95. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)

[5] Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland, (2014), by Ofra Bengio, University of Texas Press

[6] Lowe, Robert (2014), Romano, David; Gurses, Mehmet (eds.), "The Emergence of Western Kurdistan and the Future of Syria", Conflict, Democratization, and the Kurds in the Middle East: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, pp. 225–246, doi:10.1057/9781137409997_12, ISBN 978-1-137-40999-7, retrieved 2020-11-10

[7] Riamei, Mr Lungthuiyang (2017-08-15). Kurdistan: The Quest for Representation and Self-Determination: The Quest for Representation and Self-Determination. KW Publishers Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-86288-87-5.

[8] Schmidinger, Thomas (2014). Krieg und Revolution in Syrisch-Kurdistan: Analysen und Stimmen aus Rojava (in German). Mandelbaum. ISBN 978-3-85476-636-0.

[cambridge2-9] Radpey, Loqman (12 August 2016). "Kurdish Regional Self-rule Administration in Syria: A new Model of Statehood and its Status in International Law Compared to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq". Japanese Journal of Political Science. 17 (3): 468–488. doi:10.1017/S1468109916000190. ISSN 1468-1099.

[10] Gunter, Michael M. (2016). The Kurds: A Modern History. Markus Wiener Publishers. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-558766150.

[11] Nikitine, Basile (1956). Les Kurdes, Études sociologique et historique. Imprimerie Nationale. pp. 39–40.

[12] Kaya, Zeynep N. (2020). Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism. Cambridge University Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-1-108-47469-6.

[13] Izady, Mehrdad (2015-06-03). Kurds: A Concise Handbook. Taylor & Francis. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-135-84490-5.

[14] "Kurdistan | History, Religion, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-11-13.

[15] Meho, Lokman I.; Maglaughlin, Kelly L. (2001). Kurdish Culture and Society: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-313-31543-5.

[16] Khalil, Fadel (1992). Kurden heute (in German). Europaverlag. pp. 5, 18–19. ISBN 3-203-51097-9.

[17] Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland, (2014), by Ofra Bengio, University of Texas Press, p. 1.

[18] "KURDISH POPULATION IN SYRIA". Sahipkıran Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi - SASAM (in Turkish). 2014-08-05. Retrieved 2020-11-12.

[FOOTNOTETejel200969-19] Tejel (2009), p. 69. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)

[FOOTNOTEMeri2006445-20] Meri (2006), p. 445.

[FOOTNOTEVanly1992115–116-21] Vanly (1992), pp. 115–116.

[22] Gunter, Michael M. (2016), p.87

[FOOTNOTETejel200986-23] Tejel (2009), p. 86. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)

[FOOTNOTETejel200927–28-24] Tejel (2009), pp. 27–28. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)

[FOOTNOTETejel200993–95-25] Tejel (2009), pp. 93–95. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)

[FOOTNOTETejel200993-26] Tejel (2009), p. 93. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)

[FOOTNOTEAllsoppvan_Wilgenburg201928-27] Allsopp & van Wilgenburg (2019), p. 28.

[FOOTNOTETejel2009123-28] Tejel (2009), p. 123. sfnp error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFTejel2009 (help)

[cambridge-29] Kurdish Regional Self-rule Administration in Syria: A new Model of Statehood and its Status in International Law Compared to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq

[Icarus-30] "Flight of Icarus? The PYD's Precarious Rise in Syria" (PDF). International Crisis Group: Middle East Report N°151. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2020. : "The Middle East's present-day borders stem largely from the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement between France and the UK. Deprived of a state of their own, Kurds found themselves living in four different countries, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The term 'rojava' ('west' in Kurdish) refers to the western area of 'Kurdistan'; today in practice it includes non-contiguous Kurdish-populated areas of northern Syria where the PYD proclaimed a transitional administration in November 2013.".

[zamanalwsl-31] Mohamed Al Hussein (21 February 2020). "Map of proposed Syrian Kurdistan provoke questions". zamanalwsl. Retrieved 12 September 2020.

[FOOTNOTEAllsoppvan_Wilgenburg201989,_151–152-32] Allsopp & van Wilgenburg (2019), pp. 89, 151–152.

[33] "Turkey's military operation in Syria: All the latest updates". al Jazeera. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.

[gurcan-34] Metin Gurcan (7 November 2019). "Is the PKK worried by the YPG's growing popularity?". al-Monitor. Retrieved 7 November 2019.

[35] "The Communist volunteers fighting the Turkish invasion of Syria". Morning Star. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.

[36] "Nordsyrien: Warum ein Deutscher sein Leben für die Kurden riskiert" [Northern Syria: Why a German risks his life for the Kurds]. ARD (in German). 31 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.

[37] The Kurdish Project. "Syria (Rojava or Western Kurdistan)". Retrieved 8 November 2020.

[38] Gunter, Michael M. (2016). The Kurds: A Modern History. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-558766150.

[39] "Kurdish autonomy in Syria troubling for rebels, Turkey". Ekurd Daily. 7 October 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2020.

[40] Jonathan Spyer (9 March 2013). "Syrian Kurdistan: The Kurds Are for the Kurds". Ekurd Daily. Retrieved 12 September 2020.

[Balanche-41] Fabrice Balance (2018). Sectarianism in Syria's Civil War (PDF) (Online ed.). Washington, DC: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Retrieved 25 June 2019. In this atlas, French geographer Balanche suggests that "As of 2010, Syria’s population was roughly 65% Sunni Arab, 15% Kurdish, 10% Alawite, 5% Christian, 3% Druze, 1% Ismaili, and 1% Twelver Shia." (page 13) "The number of Kurds in Syria is often underestimated by analysts, who tend to cap them at 10% of the population. In fact, they are closer to 15%."(page 16) The 2018 breakdown is 1% Sunni Arab, 16% Kurdish, 13% Alawite, 3% Christian, 4% Druze, 1% Ismaili, 1% Twelver Shia, 1% Turkmen (page 22) Balanche also refers to his Atlas du ProcheOrient Arabe (Paris: Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2011), p. 36."

[42] Darke, Diana (2010-01-01). Syria. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-84162-314-6.

[BBC-Who_are_the_Kurds-43] "Who are the Kurds?" (Online ed.). BBC News. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017. Kurds make up between 7% and 10% of Syria's population.

[SBS-44] "Who are Syria's minority groups?" (Online ed.). Special Broadcasting Service. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2017. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, constituting around 10 per cent of the population - around 2 million of the pre-conflict population of around 22 million.

[Sahipkiran-45] "Kurdish Population in Syria" (Online ed.). 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2017. Various proportions are predicted for Kurds. For example McDowall[8] and O’shea[9] predict 8%, Bruinessen predicts 8.5%,[10] Chailand predicts 10%[11]. Vanly, Kurdish writer, stated that Kurds must be at least 7% of Syrian population

[CIAonline-46] World Factbook (Online ed.). Langley, Virginia: US Central Intelligence Agency. 2019. ISSN 1553-8133. Retrieved 25 June 2019. CIA estimates are as of June 2019^[update] "Ethnic groups: Arab ~50%, Alawite ~15%, Kurd ~10%, Levantine ~10%, other ~15% (includes Druze, Ismaili, Imami, Nusairi, Assyrian, Turkoman, Armenian)"

[Tejel1-47] Tejel, Jordi (2009). Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society. London: Routledge. p. 8. ISBN 0-203-89211-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

[Tejel2-48] Jordi Tejel, translated from the French by Emily Welle; Welle, Jane (2009). Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society (1. publ. ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 10. ISBN 0-203-89211-9.

[McDowell-49] McDowell, David (2005). A Modern History of the Kurds (3. revised and upd. ed., repr. ed.). London [u.a.]: Tauris. p. 469. ISBN 1-85043-416-6.

[Kreyenbroek1-50] Kreyenbroek, Philip G.; Sperl, Stefan (1992). The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. London: Routledge. pp. 147. ISBN 0-415-07265-4.

[tejel3-51] Tejel, Jordi (2009). Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society. London: Routledge. p. 144. ISBN 0-203-89211-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

[fevret-52] Fevret, Maurice; Gibert, André (1953). "La Djezireh syrienne et son réveil économique". Revue de géographie de Lyon (in French) (28): 1–15. Retrieved 2012-03-29.

[Yildiz1-53] Yildiz, Kerim (2005). The Kurds in Syria: The Forgotten People (1. publ. ed.). London [etc.]: Pluto Press, in association with Kurdish Human Rights Project. pp. 25. ISBN 0-7453-2499-1.

[54] Youssef M. Choueiri (2005). A Companion to the History of the Middle East (Hardcover ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 475. ISBN 1-4051-0681-6.

[55] ttps://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/rojavas-sustainability-and-the-pkks-regional-strategy

[:0-56] Hamza Mustapha, 2018 Review: The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth

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-{{short description|Kurdish inhabited area of Syria}}
 {{pp-protect|small=yes}}
 {{Neutrality|date=November 2020}}
 {{about|the Kurdish-inhabited areas of Syria|the AANES, often called Rojava|Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|}}
 [[File:Kurdish languages map.svg|thumb|Location of [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]-speaking communities in the [[Middle East]] (''[[Le Monde diplomatique]]'', 2007)]]
-'''Syrian Kurdistan''' or '''Western Kurdistan''' ({{lang-ku|Rojavayê Kurdistanê}}), often shortened to '''Rojava''', is regarded by some [[Kurds]]<ref name="Reuters 2014">{{cite news| url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-kurdistan-specialreport/special-report-amid-syrias-violence-kurds-carve-out-autonomy-idUSBREA0L17320140122| title = Special Report: Amid Syria's violence, Kurds carve out autonomy | trans-title=  |language = English| date = 22 January 2014| work = Reuters| access-date = 1 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="kaya">Kaya, Z. N., & Lowe, R. (2016). [http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/64770/1/Kaya%20and%20Lowe.pdf The curious question of the PYD-PKK relationship]. In G. Stansfield, & M. Shareef (Eds.), The Kurdish question revisited (pp. 275–287). London: Hurst.</ref><ref>Pinar Dinc (2020) The Kurdish Movement and the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria: An Alternative to the (Nation-)State Model?, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 22:1, 47-67, DOI: 10.1080/19448953.2020.1715669</ref> and some regional experts as the part of [[Kurdistan]] in [[Syria]].{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=95}}<ref>''Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland'', (2014), by Ofra Bengio, University of Texas Press</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Riamei|first=Mr Lungthuiyang|url=https://books.google.ch/books?id=Zb2rDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT139&dq=syrian+western+kurdistan&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7zZ-1xPjsAhVMqxoKHStsDloQ6AEwBXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=syrian%20western%20kurdistan&f=false|title=Kurdistan: The Quest for Representation and Self-Determination: The Quest for Representation and Self-Determination|date=2017-08-15|publisher=KW Publishers Pvt Ltd|isbn=978-93-86288-87-5|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Schmidinger|first=Thomas|url=https://books.google.ch/books/about/Krieg_und_Revolution_in_Syrisch_Kurdista.html?id=WRXXoAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y|title=Krieg und Revolution in Syrisch-Kurdistan: Analysen und Stimmen aus Rojava|date=2014|publisher=Mandelbaum|isbn=978-3-85476-636-0|language=de}}</ref><ref name="cambridge2">{{Cite journal|last=Radpey|first=Loqman|date=12 August 2016|title=Kurdish Regional Self-rule Administration in Syria: A new Model of Statehood and its Status in International Law Compared to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/japanese-journal-of-political-science/article/kurdish-regional-selfrule-administration-in-syria-a-new-model-of-statehood-and-its-status-in-international-law-compared-to-the-kurdistan-regional-government-krg-in-iraq/E27336DA905763412D42038E476BBE61|journal=Japanese Journal of Political Science|language=en|volume=17|issue=3|pages=468–488|doi=10.1017/S1468109916000190|issn=1468-1099|via=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Gunter|first=Michael M.|url=https://books.google.ch/books/about/The_Kurds.html?id=1-7ksgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y|title=The Kurds: A Modern History|date=2016|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|year=|isbn=978-1-558766150|location=|pages=89|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Nikitine|first=Basile|title=Les Kurdes, Études sociologique et historique|publisher=Imprimerie Nationale|year=1956|isbn=|location=|pages=39–40}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kaya|first=Zeynep N.|url=https://books.google.ch/books?id=qRzhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA177&dq=Kurdistan+map&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7_d7BtP7sAhXRCuwKHci9AuoQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=Kurdistan%20map&f=false|title=Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism|date=|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-108-47469-6|location=|pages=181|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Izady|first=Mehrdad|url=https://books.google.ch/books?id=EAbICQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Kurdistan+geography&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPs_i3tf7sAhWolYsKHQWvADsQ6AEwCXoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=Kurdistan%20geography&f=false|title=Kurds: A Concise Handbook|date=2015-06-03|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=|isbn=978-1-135-84490-5|location=|pages=4|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Kurdistan {{!}} History, Religion, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kurdistan|access-date=2020-11-13|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Meho|first=Lokman I.|url=https://books.google.ch/books?id=sl4PIeyWriUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=kurdistan+in+Syria&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRm5edpf7sAhVvMewKHV6RAIAQ6AEwB3oECAgQAg#v=onepage&q=kurdistan%20in%20Syria&f=false|title=Kurdish Culture and Society: An Annotated Bibliography|last2=Maglaughlin|first2=Kelly L.|date=2001|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=|isbn=978-0-313-31543-5|location=|pages=3|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Khen|first=Hilly Moodrick-Even|url=https://books.google.ch/books?id=mHG9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA276&dq=syrian+kurdistan+and+kdp-s&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjIscX0oYDtAhUNDuwKHbL1B9YQ6AEwAnoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=syrian%20kurdistan%20and%20kdp-s&f=false|title=The Syrian War: Between Justice and Political Reality|last2=Boms|first2=Nir T.|last3=Ashraph|first3=Sareta|date=2020-01-09|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=|isbn=978-1-108-48780-1|location=|pages=275|language=en}}</ref> In this conception, Syrian Kurdistan  is joined by southeastern [[Turkey]] ([[Turkish Kurdistan]]), northern [[Iraq]] ([[Iraqi Kurdistan]]), and northwestern [[Iran]] ([[Iranian Kurdistan]]).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Khalil|first=Fadel|url=https://books.google.hn/books/about/Kurden_heute.html?hl=de&id=TrZVAAAAYAAJ|title=Kurden heute|date=1992|publisher=Europaverlag|year=|isbn=3-203-51097-9|location=|pages=5,18-19|language=de}}</ref><ref>''Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland'', (2014), by Ofra Bengio, University of Texas Press, p. 1.</ref> The term Syrian Kurdistan is often used in the context of [[Kurdish nationalism]], which makes it a controversial concept among proponents of [[Syrian nationalism|Syrian]] and [[Arab nationalism]]. There is ambiguity about its geographical extent, and the term has different meanings depending on context.
+'''Syrian Kurdistan''' or '''Western Kurdistan''' ({{lang-ku|Rojavayê Kurdistanê}}), often shortened to '''Rojava''', is regarded by many [[Kurds]]<ref name="Reuters 2014">{{cite news| url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-kurdistan-specialreport/special-report-amid-syrias-violence-kurds-carve-out-autonomy-idUSBREA0L17320140122| title = Special Report: Amid Syria's violence, Kurds carve out autonomy | trans-title=  |language = English| date = 22 January 2014| work = Reuters| access-date = 1 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="kaya">Kaya, Z. N., & Lowe, R. (2016). [http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/64770/1/Kaya%20and%20Lowe.pdf The curious question of the PYD-PKK relationship]. In G. Stansfield, & M. Shareef (Eds.), The Kurdish question revisited (pp. 275–287). London: Hurst.</ref><ref>Pinar Dinc (2020) The Kurdish Movement and the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria: An Alternative to the (Nation-)State Model?, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 22:1, 47-67, DOI: 10.1080/19448953.2020.1715669</ref> and some regional experts as the part of [[Kurdistan]] in [[Syria]],{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=95}}<ref>''Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland'', (2014), by Ofra Bengio, University of Texas Press</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Lowe|first=Robert|title=The Emergence of Western Kurdistan and the Future of Syria|date=2014|url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137409997_12|work=Conflict, Democratization, and the Kurds in the Middle East: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria|pages=225–246|editor-last=Romano|editor-first=David|place=New York|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US|language=en|doi=10.1057/9781137409997_12|isbn=978-1-137-40999-7|access-date=2020-11-10|editor2-last=Gurses|editor2-first=Mehmet}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Riamei|first=Mr Lungthuiyang|url=https://books.google.ch/books?id=Zb2rDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT139&dq=syrian+western+kurdistan&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7zZ-1xPjsAhVMqxoKHStsDloQ6AEwBXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=syrian%20western%20kurdistan&f=false|title=Kurdistan: The Quest for Representation and Self-Determination: The Quest for Representation and Self-Determination|date=2017-08-15|publisher=KW Publishers Pvt Ltd|isbn=978-93-86288-87-5|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Schmidinger|first=Thomas|url=https://books.google.ch/books/about/Krieg_und_Revolution_in_Syrisch_Kurdista.html?id=WRXXoAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y|title=Krieg und Revolution in Syrisch-Kurdistan: Analysen und Stimmen aus Rojava|date=2014|publisher=Mandelbaum|isbn=978-3-85476-636-0|language=de}}</ref><ref name="cambridge2">{{Cite journal|last=Radpey|first=Loqman|date=12 August 2016|title=Kurdish Regional Self-rule Administration in Syria: A new Model of Statehood and its Status in International Law Compared to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/japanese-journal-of-political-science/article/kurdish-regional-selfrule-administration-in-syria-a-new-model-of-statehood-and-its-status-in-international-law-compared-to-the-kurdistan-regional-government-krg-in-iraq/E27336DA905763412D42038E476BBE61|journal=Japanese Journal of Political Science|language=en|volume=17|issue=3|pages=468–488|doi=10.1017/S1468109916000190|issn=1468-1099|via=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Gunter|first=Michael M.|url=https://books.google.ch/books/about/The_Kurds.html?id=1-7ksgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y|title=The Kurds: A Modern History|date=2016|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|year=|isbn=978-1-558766150|location=|pages=89|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Nikitine|first=Basile|title=Les Kurdes, Études sociologique et historique|publisher=Imprimerie Nationale|year=1956|isbn=|location=|pages=39–40}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kaya|first=Zeynep N.|url=https://books.google.ch/books?id=qRzhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA177&dq=Kurdistan+map&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7_d7BtP7sAhXRCuwKHci9AuoQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=Kurdistan%20map&f=false|title=Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism|date=|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-108-47469-6|location=|pages=181|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Izady|first=Mehrdad|url=https://books.google.ch/books?id=EAbICQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Kurdistan+geography&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPs_i3tf7sAhWolYsKHQWvADsQ6AEwCXoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=Kurdistan%20geography&f=false|title=Kurds: A Concise Handbook|date=2015-06-03|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=|isbn=978-1-135-84490-5|location=|pages=4|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Kurdistan {{!}} History, Religion, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kurdistan|access-date=2020-11-13|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Meho|first=Lokman I.|url=https://books.google.ch/books?id=sl4PIeyWriUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=kurdistan+in+Syria&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRm5edpf7sAhVvMewKHV6RAIAQ6AEwB3oECAgQAg#v=onepage&q=kurdistan%20in%20Syria&f=false|title=Kurdish Culture and Society: An Annotated Bibliography|last2=Maglaughlin|first2=Kelly L.|date=2001|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=|isbn=978-0-313-31543-5|location=|pages=3|language=en}}</ref> much as they view southeastern [[Turkey]] ([[Northern Kurdistan]]), northern [[Iraq]] ([[Southern Kurdistan]]), and northwestern [[Iran]] ([[Eastern Kurdistan]]).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Khalil|first=Fadel|url=https://books.google.hn/books/about/Kurden_heute.html?hl=de&id=TrZVAAAAYAAJ|title=Kurden heute|date=1992|publisher=Europaverlag|year=|isbn=3-203-51097-9|location=|pages=5,18-19|language=de}}</ref><ref>''Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland'', (2014), by Ofra Bengio, University of Texas Press, p. 1.</ref> There is ambiguity about its geographical extent, and the term has different meanings depending on context. Around 80% of [[Syrian Kurds]] live in Kurdish-majority regions along the [[Syria-Turkey border]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-08-05|title=KURDISH POPULATION IN SYRIA|url=http://sahipkiran.org/2014/08/05/kurdish-population-in-syria/|access-date=2020-11-12|website=Sahipkıran Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi - SASAM|language=tr-TR}}</ref>
-== History ==
-[[File:Map showing approximate distrubution of Kurdish tribes in the Ottoman Empire - Mark Sykes, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society, 1908, p. 452.png|thumb|Map by [[Mark Sykes]] showing the approximate distribution of Kurdish tribes in the Ottoman Empire in 1908]]The late 19th-century ''[[Chambers's Encyclopaedia]]'' referred to "west Kurdistan" as bordering Iran in its entry on that country.<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=InxRAAAAYAAJ|title=Chambers's Encyclopædia|publisher=William & Robert Chambers|year=1890|isbn=|edition=New|volume=VI: Humber to Malta|location=London and Edinburgh|pages=197|language=en}}</ref> A German [[Gymnasium (Germany)|''gymnasium'']] text book from Sorau (modern [[Żary]]) describes [[Diyarbakır]] as being "on the upper Tigris, in West Kurdistan".<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gmtnAAAAcAAJ|title=Programm des Gymnasiums zu Sorau: 1875/76|date=|publisher=|year=1876|isbn=|location=|pages=|language=de}}</ref> {{Interlanguage link|Amand von Schweiger-Lerchenfeld|lt=|de||WD=}}, who travelled over much of the [[Ottoman Empire]], also referred to "West Kurdistan" in his ''Der Orient'' of 1882,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Schweiger-Lerchenfeld|first=Amand von|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CRAZAAAAYAAJ|title=Der Orient|publisher=Hartleben|year=1882|isbn=|location=Vienna|pages=301|language=de}}</ref> while {{Interlanguage link|Daniel Völter (Geograph)|lt=Daniel Völter|de||WD=}}, in his ''Allgemeine Erdbeschreibung'', also mentioned "West Kurdistan" in 1848.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Völter|first=Daniel|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FfJaAAAAQAAJ|title=Allgemeine Erdbeschreibung|publisher=Dannheimer|year=1848|isbn=|volume=I|location=|pages=298-301, 309|language=de}}</ref> "West Kurdistan" was referred to by [[Mark Sykes]] in his 1908 paper in the ''[[Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]]'' as being in part of Kurdistan conquered by [[Selim I]] ({{Reign|1512|1520}}).<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Sykes|first=Mark|date=1908|title=The Kurdish Tribes of the Ottoman Empire|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2843309|journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|volume=38|pages=451–486|doi=10.2307/2843309|issn=0307-3114}}</ref>{{Rp|470}} Sykes, having undertaken a {{Convert|7500|mile|km|abbr=|adj=on}} journey through the Ottoman Empire, published one of first surveys in English on the Kurdish tribes.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|451}}
+== History of the term ==
-[[File:Sykes Ras el Ain to Nissibine map of Arab tribes Page 21.jpg|thumb|Map drawn by [[Mark Sykes]] in 1907 showing distribution of Arab and Kurdish tribes in upper Mesopotamia with the train tracks separating Turkey (to the north) from Syria (to the south)]]
+[[File:Cedid Atlas (Middle East) 1803.jpg|thumb|right|1803 [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Cedid Atlas]], showing the Ottoman interpretation of Kurdistan in blue (incorporating very little of modern [[Syria]]).]]
-Although the concept of an independent Kurdistan as homeland of the Kurdish people has a long history,{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=69}} the extent of said territory has been disputed over time.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=95}} Kurds have lived in territories which later became part of modern Syria for centuries,{{sfnp|Meri|2006|p=445}}{{sfnp|Vanly|1992|pp=115–116}} and following the partition of the Ottoman Empire, the Kurdish population before living in the Ottoman Empire, was divided between its successor states Turkey, [[Mandatory Iraq|Iraq]] and [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|Syria]].<ref>Gunter, Michael M. (2016), p.87</ref>  Local Kurdish parties generally maintained ideologies which stayed in a firmly Syrian framework, and did not aspire to create a separate Syrian Kurdistan.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=86}} In the 1920s, there were two separate demands for an autonomy of the areas with a Kurdish majority. One of Nouri Kandy, an influential Kurd from the [[Kurd Mountains|Kurd Dagh]], and another one of the Kurdish tribal leaders of the Barazi confederation. Both demands were not taken into consideration by the authorities of the French Mandate.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|pp=27–28}} According to [[Jordi Tejel]], until the 1980s Kurdish-inhabited areas of Syria were mainly regarded as "Kurdish regions of Syria".{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=95}}
+Although [[Kurdish nationalism]] has a long history,{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=69}} the extent of [[Kurdistan]] has been disputed over time.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=95}} Kurds have lived in territory which is now part of the Syrian Arab Republic for centuries,{{sfnp|Meri|2006|p=445}}{{sfnp|Vanly|1992|pp=115–116}} and following the [[partitioning of the Ottoman Empire]], the Ottoman Kurdish population was divided between its successor states Turkey, [[Mandatory Iraq]] andthe  [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon]].<ref>Gunter, Michael M. (2016), p.87</ref> Before the 1980s, Kurdish-inhabited areas of Syria were usually regarded as "Kurdish regions of Syria".{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=95}} Local Kurdish parties generally maintained ideologies which stayed in a firmly [[Syrian nationalist]] framework, and did not aspire to an independent Kurdish state.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=86}} In the 1920s, there were two separate demands for autonomy for the areas with a Kurdish majority, from [[Nouri Kandy]], an influential Kurd from the [[Kurd Mountains]], and another from the Kurdish tribal leaders of the Barazi confederation. Neither was taken into consideration by the French authorities of the Mandate, which included Syrian Kurdistan in its short-lived [[State of Aleppo]] instead.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|pp=27–28}}
+References to Syrian territory being part of Kurdistan became more widespread among Syrian Kurds in the 1980s and 1990s,{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|pp=93–95}} a development fueled by the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] (PKK), which was based in Syria after [[Hafez al-Assad]] had given it [[safe haven]] after the [[1980 Turkish coup d'état]]. The PKK presence strengthened Kurdish nationalism in Syria, where local Kurdish parties had previously lacked "a clear political project" related to a Kurdish identity, partially due to political repression by the Syrian government.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=93}} Despite the role of the PKK in encouraging aspirations toward an independent Kurdistan, the [[Democratic Union Party (Syria)|Democratic Union Party]] (PYD) (the Syrian successor of the PKK){{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=28}} and the PKK no longer aspire to an independent Kurdish state.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=123}} Today they call for the removal of state borders in general, as the two parties, along with the rest of the [[Kurdistan Communities Union]], believe that there is no need for the creation of a separate Kurdish state, as their [[Internationalism (politics)|internationalist]] project would allow for the removal of the borders that divide Kurdistan through indirect means.<ref name="kaya"/>
-== Etymology ==
-The idea of a Syrian territory being part of a "Kurdistan" or "Syrian Kurdistan" gained more widespread support among Syrian Kurds in the 1980s and 1990s.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|pp=93–95}}<ref name=":0" /> Several smaller Kurdish political movements in Syria, amongst them the Yekiti and the Azadi, began to organize manifestations in cities with a large Kurdish population demanding a better treatment of the Kurdish population while advocating for an recognition of a "Syrian Kurdistan".<ref name=":0" /> This development was fueled by the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] (PKK) that strengthened Kurdish nationalist ideas in Syria, whereas local Kurdish parties had previously lacked success in promoting "a clear political project" related to a Kurdish identity, partially due to political repression by the Syrian government.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=93}} Despite the role of the PKK in initially spreading the concept of "Syrian Kurdistan", the [[Democratic Union Party (Syria)|Democratic Union Party]] (PYD) (the Syrian "successor" of the PKK).{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=28}} generally refrained from calling for the establishment of "Syrian Kurdistan".{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=123}} As the PKK and PYD call for the removal of national borders in general, the two parties believed that there was no need for the creation of a separate "Syrian Kurdistan", as their [[Internationalism (politics)|internationalist]] project would allow for the unification of Kurdistan through indirect means.<ref name="kaya" /> Some observers see Syrian Kurdistan as a concept emerging from the ongoing Syrian Civil War.<ref>{{Citation|last=Lowe|first=Robert|title=The Emergence of Western Kurdistan and the Future of Syria|date=2014|url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137409997_12|work=Conflict, Democratization, and the Kurds in the Middle East: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria|pages=225–246|editor-last=Romano|editor-first=David|place=New York|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US|language=en|doi=10.1057/9781137409997_12|isbn=978-1-137-40999-7|access-date=2020-11-10|editor2-last=Gurses|editor2-first=Mehmet}}</ref>
-[[File:Cedid Atlas (Middle East) 1803.jpg|thumb|right|1803 [[Cedid Atlas]] showing Kurdistan in blue where it is located north-east of modern Syria's boundary.]]The concept of a Syrian Kurdistan gained even more relevance after the [[Syrian Civil War]]'s start, as Kurdish-inhabited areas in northern Syria fell under the control of Kurdish-dominated factions. The PYD established an [[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|autonomous administration in northern Syria]] which it eventually began to call "Rojava" or "West Kurdistan".<ref name="kaya" /><ref name="cambridge">[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/japanese-journal-of-political-science/article/kurdish-regional-selfrule-administration-in-syria-a-new-model-of-statehood-and-its-status-in-international-law-compared-to-the-kurdistan-regional-government-krg-in-iraq/E27336DA905763412D42038E476BBE61/core-reader Kurdish Regional Self-rule Administration in Syria: A new Model of Statehood and its Status in International Law Compared to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq]</ref><ref name="Icarus" /> By 2014, many local Kurds used this name synonymously to northeastern Syria.<ref name="Reuters 2014" /> Non-PYD parties such as the KNC also began to raise demands for the establishment of Syrian Kurdistan as separate area, raising increasing concerns by Syrian nationalists and some observers who regarded these plans as attempts to divide Syria.<ref name="zamanalwsl" /> As the PYD-led administration gained control over increasingly ethnically diverse areas, however, the use of "Rojava" for the merging [[proto-state]] was gradually reduced in official contexts.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=89, 151–152}} Regardless, the polity continued to be called Rojava by locals and international observers,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/turkey-military-operation-syria-latest-updates-191013083950643.html |title=Turkey's military operation in Syria: All the latest updates |work=al Jazeera |date=14 October 2019 |accessdate=29 October 2019}}</ref><ref name="gurcan">{{cite web|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/11/turkey-syria-pkk-worried-by-growing-popularity-of-ypg-kurds.html |title=Is the PKK worried by the YPG's growing popularity? |author=Metin Gurcan |work=[[al-Monitor]]|date=7 November 2019 |accessdate=7 November 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/communist-volunteers-fighting-turkish-invasion-syria| title = The Communist volunteers fighting the Turkish invasion of Syria| date = 31 October 2019| work = [[Morning Star (British newspaper)|Morning Star]]| access-date = 1 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.ardmediathek.de/ard/player/Y3JpZDovL25kci5kZS81YmI0NzU0OC0zNGI3LTRlMTYtYWI2MC03YWM3ZDA5YmRhNDQ/| title = Nordsyrien: Warum ein Deutscher sein Leben für die Kurden riskiert | trans-title= Northern Syria: Why a German risks his life for the Kurds |language = German| date = 31 October 2019| work = ARD| access-date = 1 November 2019}}</ref> with journalist Metin Gurcan noting that "the concept of Rojava [had become] a brand gaining global recognition" by 2019.<ref name="gurcan" />
+The idea of a Syrian Kurdistan gained even more relevance after the start of the [[Syrian Civil War]], as Kurdish-inhabited areas in northern Syria fell under the control of Kurdish-dominated factions. The PYD established an [[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|autonomous administration in northern Syria]] which it sometimes called 'Rojava' or 'West Kurdistan'.<ref name="kaya" /><ref name="cambridge">[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/japanese-journal-of-political-science/article/kurdish-regional-selfrule-administration-in-syria-a-new-model-of-statehood-and-its-status-in-international-law-compared-to-the-kurdistan-regional-government-krg-in-iraq/E27336DA905763412D42038E476BBE61/core-reader Kurdish Regional Self-rule Administration in Syria: A new Model of Statehood and its Status in International Law Compared to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq]</ref><ref name="Icarus">{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/pages/attachments/2015/05/29/icg_050814.pdf |title=Flight of Icarus? The PYD’s Precarious Rise in Syria |work=International Crisis Group: Middle East Report N°151 |date=8 May 2014 |accessdate=9 November 2020 |quote=: "The Middle East's present-day borders stem largely from the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement between France and the UK. Deprived of a state of their own, Kurds found themselves living in four different countries, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The term 'rojava' ('west' in Kurdish) refers to the western area of 'Kurdistan'; today in practice it includes non-contiguous Kurdish-populated areas of northern Syria where the PYD proclaimed a transitional administration in November 2013.".}}</ref> By 2014, many Syrian Kurds used these names to refer to northeastern Syria.<ref name="Reuters 2014"/> Kurdish nationalist parties, such as the [[Kurdish National Council]] (KNC), began to raise demands for the establishment of a Syrian Kurdish state, raising concerns from [[Syrian nationalist]]s and some observers.<ref name="zamanalwsl" /> As the PYD-led administration gained control over increasingly ethnically diverse areas, however, the use of "Rojava" for the merging [[proto-state]] was gradually reduced in official contexts,{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=89, 151–152}} although the polity continued to be called Rojava by locals and international observers,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/turkey-military-operation-syria-latest-updates-191013083950643.html |title=Turkey's military operation in Syria: All the latest updates |work=al Jazeera |date=14 October 2019 |accessdate=29 October 2019}}</ref><ref name="gurcan">{{cite web|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/11/turkey-syria-pkk-worried-by-growing-popularity-of-ypg-kurds.html |title=Is the PKK worried by the YPG's growing popularity? |author=Metin Gurcan |work=[[al-Monitor]]|date=7 November 2019 |accessdate=7 November 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/communist-volunteers-fighting-turkish-invasion-syria| title = The Communist volunteers fighting the Turkish invasion of Syria| date = 31 October 2019| work = [[Morning Star (British newspaper)|Morning Star]]| access-date = 1 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.ardmediathek.de/ard/player/Y3JpZDovL25kci5kZS81YmI0NzU0OC0zNGI3LTRlMTYtYWI2MC03YWM3ZDA5YmRhNDQ/| title = Nordsyrien: Warum ein Deutscher sein Leben für die Kurden riskiert | trans-title= Northern Syria: Why a German risks his life for the Kurds |language = German| date = 31 October 2019| work = ARD| access-date = 1 November 2019}}</ref> with journalist Metin Gurcan noting that "the concept of Rojava [had become] a brand gaining global recognition" by 2019.<ref name="gurcan"/>
-[[File:Treaty_of_Sèvres_1920.svg|thumb|Kurdistan as suggested by the Treaty of Sèvres was located north of the Syrian border]]
 == Extent ==
+[[File:Rojava_february_2014.png|thumb|200px|The [[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria]] in 2014, referred to as 'Syrian Kurdistan' by the [[Kurdish Project]]<ref>{{cite news| url = https://thekurdishproject.org/kurdistan-map/syrian-kurdistan/| title =  Syria (Rojava or Western Kurdistan) |author = The Kurdish Project| work = | date = | access-date = 8 November 2020}}</ref>]]
-"Syrian Kurdistan", as understood in the modern sense, has no clearly defined territory.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=95}} According to the [[Crisis Group]], the term "refers to the western area of 'Kurdistan'", namely those in Syria.<ref name="Icarus">{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/pages/attachments/2015/05/29/icg_050814.pdf |title=Flight of Icarus? The PYD’s Precarious Rise in Syria |work=International Crisis Group: Middle East Report N°151 |date=8 May 2014 |accessdate=9 November 2020 |quote=: "The Middle East's present-day borders stem largely from the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement between France and the UK. Deprived of a state of their own, Kurds found themselves living in four different countries, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The term 'rojava' ('west' in Kurdish) refers to the western area of 'Kurdistan'; today in practice it includes non-contiguous Kurdish-populated areas of northern Syria where the PYD proclaimed a transitional administration in November 2013.".}}</ref> In the 20th century, Kurdistan was usually only included areas in Turkey and Iraq. The Kurdish-inhabited areas in northern Syria are adjacent to "Turkish Kurdistan" in the north and "Iraqi Kurdistan" in the east. Accordingly, some researchers argue that the Kurdish problem is Syria was originally a Turkish problem that shifted into Syria, as Kurds from Turkey migrated to Syria and took their national concepts with them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gunter|first=Michael M.|title=The Kurds: A Modern History|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|year=2016|isbn=978-1-558766150|location=Princeton|pages=88|language=en}}</ref><ref>Hamza Mustapha, 2018 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.31430/almuntaqa.1.3.0111.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A46c7429c40b6fc8dd5021b2dffe56bde Review: The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth]</ref>
+Syrian Kurdistan, like the rest of Kurdistan, is not clearly defined, and its extent is subject to varying interpretations.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=95}} Following the [[partition of the Ottoman Empire]] and the establishment of the Republic of [[Turkey]] in 1923, the Ottoman Kurdish population was divided between its successor states Turkey, the [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon]], and [[Mandatory Iraq]]. Syrian Kurdistan is adjacent to [[Turkish Kurdistan]] in the north and [[Iraqi Kurdistan]] in the east.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gunter|first=Michael M.|title=The Kurds: A Modern History|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|year=2016|isbn=978-1-558766150|location=Princeton|pages=88|language=en}}</ref> Depending on their different interpretations, most ethnographic maps show two or three separate Kurdish-majority regions along the [[Syria-Turkey border]].
-By 2013, "Rojava" had become synonymous with PYD-ruled areas, regardless of ethnic majorities. For the most part, the term was used to refer to the "non-contiguous Kurdish-populated areas" in the region.<ref name="Icarus"/> In 2015 a map by [[Kurdish National Council]] (KNC) member Nori Brimo was published which largely mirrored the ''Ekurd Daily'''s maps, but also included the Hatay Province. The claimed map includes large swaths of Arab-majority areas.<ref name="zamanalwsl">{{cite news| url = https://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/article/9073/| title =  Map of proposed Syrian Kurdistan provoke questions |author = Mohamed Al Hussein| work = zamanalwsl| date = 21 February 2020| access-date = 12 September 2020}}</ref>
+[[File:Rojavaye Kurdistane welat ku wkp.png|thumb|200px|[[Irredentist]] [[Kurdish nationalist]] view of Western Kurdistan, espoused in particular by the [[Kurdish National Council]]<ref name="zamanalwsl" />]]
+The most generous portrayals of Syrian Kurdistan are those of [[Kurdish nationalist]]s, who have produced maps that show what they consider to be Syrian Kurdistan. This is usually a narrow strip along the [[Syria-Turkey border]] that thickens toward the east. Two maps by ''Ekurd Daily'' from 2012 and 2013 included all of northern Syria, including the entire [[al-Hasakah Governorate]], the north of [[Deir ez-Zor Governorate]], northern [[Raqqa Governorate]], and northern [[Aleppo Governorate]], as well as the areas of the [[Idlib Governorate]] bordering Turkey's [[Hatay Province]], in 'Western Kurdistan'.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2012/10/syriakurd637.htm| title = Kurdish autonomy in Syria troubling for rebels, Turkey | work = Ekurd Daily| date = 7 October 2012| access-date = 14 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/3/syriakurd757.htm| title = Syrian Kurdistan: The Kurds Are for the Kurds |author = Jonathan Spyer| work = Ekurd Daily| date = 9 March 2013| access-date = 12 September 2020}}</ref> By 2013, Syrian Kurdistan had become synonymous with PYD-ruled areas, regardless of ethnic majorities. For the most part, the term was used to refer to the "non-contiguous Kurdish-populated areas" in the region.<ref name="Icarus"/> A 2015 map by [[Kurdish National Council]] (KNC) member Nori Brimo was published which largely mirrored the ''Ekurd Daily'''s maps, but also included the Hatay Province, thus giving this version of Western Kurdistan access to the [[Mediterranean]]. These maps include the large swaths of Arab-majority areas in between the major Kurdish regions.<ref name="zamanalwsl">{{cite news| url = https://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/article/9073/| title =  Map of proposed Syrian Kurdistan provoke questions |author = Mohamed Al Hussein| work = zamanalwsl| date = 21 February 2020| access-date = 12 September 2020}}</ref>
-== Demographic background ==
 [[File:Maunsell's map Northern Syria.jpg|thumb|left|1910 British ethnographic map of ethnic distribution in Syria]]
+==Demographic history and its effects on government policy==
-Northern Syria is an ethnically diverse region. Kurds constitute one of several groups which have lived in northern Syria since antiquity or the [[Middle Ages]].{{sfnp|Vanly|1992|p=116|ps=: "To the east of Kurd-Dagh and separated from it by the Afrin valley lies the western and mountainous part of the Syrian district of Azaz which is also inhabited by Kurds, and a Kurdish minority lives in the northern counties of Idlib and Jerablos. There is reason to believe that the establishment of Kurds in these areas, a defensive site commanding the path to Antioch, goes back to the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] era."}}{{sfnp|Meri|2006|p=445}}{{efn|It is difficult to properly define early Kurds, as "Kurdish" was often used as a catch-all word for nomadic tribal groups west of Iran during antiquity and medieval times.{{sfnp|Meri|2006|p=445}} }} The first Kurdish communitites constituted a minority and mostly consisted of nomads or military colonists.{{sfnp|Vanly|1992|pp=115–116}}{{sfnp|Meri|2006|p=445}} During the [[Ottoman Empire]] (1516–1922), large [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish-speaking]] tribal groups both settled in and were deported to areas of northern Syria from [[Anatolia]].{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=123}} Until the beginning of the 20th century, parts of al-Hasakah Governorate (then called Jazira province) were "no man's land" primarily reserved for the grazing land of nomadic and semi-sedentary tribes.<ref name="Algun">Algun, S., 2011. [https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/205821 Sectarianism in the Syrian Jazira: Community, land and violence in the memories of World War I and the French mandate (1915- 1939)]. Ph.D. Dissertation. Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands. Pages 18. Accessed on 8 December 2019.</ref> The last years of Ottoman rule witnessed extensive demographic changes in northern Syria as a result of the [[Assyrian Genocide]] and mass migrations.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|pp=9–10}} Many Assyrians fled to Syria during the genocide and settled mainly in the Jazira area.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4kTdYgwQPkC&pg=PA162|title= Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide|author= Bat Yeʼor|page= 162|year= 2002|isbn= 9780838639429}}</ref>
+[[File:Kurdish-inhabited area by CIA (1992).jpg|right|thumb|200px|1992 CIA map of Kurdish-inhabited areas]]
-Starting in 1926, the region saw another immigration of Kurds following the failure of the [[Sheikh Said rebellion]] against the [[Turkey|Turkish authorities]].<ref>Abu Fakhr, Saqr, 2013. [[As-Safir]] daily Newspaper, Beirut. [http://assafir.com/Article/331189#.UrbZIuK_guh in Arabic] [http://araborthodoxy.blogspot.ca/2013/12/as-safir-on-history-of-persecution-of.html Christian Decline in the Middle East: A Historical View]</ref> Waves of Kurds fled their homes in Turkey and settled in Syrian [[Al-Jazira Province]], where they were granted citizenship by the authorities of the French [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon]].<ref name="Chatty2010">{{cite book|author=[[Dawn Chatty]]|title=Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8OsgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA230|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-48693-4|pages=230–232}}</ref> The number of Kurds settled in the Jazira province during the 1920s was estimated at 20,000<ref name="The Refugee Problem">{{cite book|last=Simpson|first=John Hope|title=The Refugee Problem: Report of a Survey |year=1939 |publisher=Oxford University Press|location=London|asin=B0006AOLOA|page=458|edition=First|url-access=registration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SxR8uwEACAAJ}}</ref> to 25,000 people,<ref name=McDowell>{{cite book|last=McDowell|first=David|title=A Modern History of the Kurds |year=2005|publisher=Tauris|location=London [u.a.]|isbn=1-85043-416-6|pages=469|edition=3. revised and upd. ed., repr.}}</ref> out of 100,000 inhabitants, with the remainder of the population being Christians (Syriac, Armenian, Assyrian) and Arabs.<ref name="The Refugee Problem" /> According to [[Michael Gunter]], many Kurds still do not see themselves as belonging to either the Turkish or Syrian Kurdistan, but rather as one who originates from "above the line" (Kurdish: ''Ser Xhet'') or "below the line" (Kurdish:''Bin Xhet'').<ref>Gunter, Michael M. (2016), p.90</ref>
+[[Kurdish people|Kurds]] are the largest ethnic minority in [[Syria]], and make up between 5 and 16 percent of the Syrian population as of 2011—between 1.6 and 2.5 million people, although these figures don't include [[Arabisation|Arabized]] Kurds.<ref name="Balanche">{{cite book |title=Sectarianism in Syria's Civil War |author=Fabrice Balance |edition=Online |date=2018 |publisher=[[ The Washington Institute for Near East Policy]] |location=Washington, DC |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/SyriaAtlasCOMPLETE.pdf |accessdate=25 June 2019}} In this atlas, French geographer Balanche suggests that "As of 2010, Syria’s population was roughly 65% Sunni Arab, 15% Kurdish, 10% Alawite, 5% Christian, 3% Druze, 1% Ismaili, and 1% Twelver Shia." (page 13) "The number of Kurds in Syria is often underestimated by analysts, who tend to cap them at 10% of the population. In fact, they are closer to 15%."(page 16) The 2018 breakdown is 1% Sunni Arab, 16% Kurdish, 13% Alawite, 3% Christian, 4% Druze, 1% Ismaili, 1% Twelver Shia, 1% Turkmen (page 22) Balanche also refers to his ''Atlas du ProcheOrient Arabe'' (Paris: Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2011), p. 36."</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jv2jHT_GRe0C|title=Syria|last=Darke|first=Diana|date=2010-01-01|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |isbn=978-1-84162-314-6|language=en}}</ref><ref name="BBC-Who_are_the_Kurds">{{cite web|title=Who are the Kurds?|edition=Online |date=31 October 2017 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29702440 |accessdate=25 November 2017}} Kurds make up between 7% and 10% of Syria's population.</ref><ref name="SBS">{{cite web|title=Who are Syria's minority groups?|edition=Online |date=11 September 2015 |publisher=[[Special Broadcasting Service]] |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/09/11/who-are-syrias-minority-groups |accessdate=25 November 2017}} Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, constituting around 10 per cent of the population - around 2 million of the pre-conflict population of around 22 million.</ref><ref name="Sahipkiran">{{cite web |title=Kurdish Population in Syria |edition=Online |date=5 August 2014 |url=http://sahipkiran.org/2014/08/05/kurdish-population-in-syria/ |accessdate=25 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022130115/http://sahipkiran.org/2014/08/05/kurdish-population-in-syria/ |archive-date=22 October 2018 |url-status=dead }} Various proportions are predicted for Kurds. For example McDowall[8] and O’shea[9] predict 8%, Bruinessen predicts 8.5%,[10] Chailand predicts 10%[11]. Vanly, Kurdish writer, stated that Kurds must be at least 7% of Syrian population</ref><ref name="CIAonline">{{cite book |title=World Factbook |edition=Online |date=2019 |publisher=US [[Central Intelligence Agency]] |location=Langley, Virginia |issn=1553-8133 |url= https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ |accessdate=25 June 2019}}  CIA estimates are {{as of|lc=y|2019|06}} "Ethnic groups: Arab ~50%, Alawite ~15%, Kurd ~10%, Levantine ~10%, other ~15% (includes Druze, Ismaili, Imami, Nusairi, Assyrian, Turkoman, Armenian)"</ref>  The Kurdish population in Syria is relatively small in comparison to the Kurdish populations in nearby countries, such as [[Turkey]] (14.4–16 million), [[Iran]] (7.9 million), and [[Iraq]] (4.7–6.2 million).<ref name=CIAonline /> The majority of Syrian Kurds speak [[Kurmanji]], a Kurdish dialect spoken in Turkey and northeastern Iraq and Iran.<ref name=Tejel1>{{cite book|last=Tejel|first=Jordi|title=Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society|year=2009|publisher=Routledge|location=London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4f54qsU618C|isbn=0-203-89211-9|page=8|}}</ref> Many of Syria's Kurds live in [[Aleppo]] and [[Damascus]], which are not considered part of Kurdistan.
-French mandate authorities gave the new Kurdish refugees considerable rights and encouraged minority autonomy as part of a [[divide and rule]] strategy and recruited heavily from the Kurds and other minority groups, such as [[Alawite]] and [[Druze]], for its local armed forces.<ref name=Yildiz25>{{cite book|last=Yildiz|first=Kerim|title=The Kurds in Syria : the forgotten people|url=https://archive.org/details/kurdssyriaforgot00yild|url-access=limited|year=2005|publisher=Pluto Press, in association with Kurdish Human Rights Project|location=London [etc.]|page=[https://archive.org/details/kurdssyriaforgot00yild/page/n29 25]|isbn=0745324991|edition=1. publ.}}</ref> French Mandate authorities encouraged their immigration and granted them Syrian citizenship.<ref name=Kreyenbroek1>{{cite book|last=Kreyenbroek|first=Philip G.|title=The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview|year=1992|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=0-415-07265-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/147 147]|author2=Sperl, Stefan|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/147}}</ref> The French official reports show the existence of at most 45 Kurdish villages in Jazira prior to 1927. A new wave of refugees arrived in 1929.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=144}} The mandatory authorities continued to encourage Kurdish immigration into Syria, and by 1939, the villages numbered between 700 and 800.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=144}} The French authorities themselves generally organized the settlement of the refugees. One of the most important of these plans was carried out in Upper Jazira in northeastern Syria where the French built new towns and villages (such as Qamishli) were built with the intention of housing the refugees considered to be "friendly". This has encouraged the non-Turkish minorities that were under Turkish pressure to leave their ancestral homes and property, they could find refuge and rebuild their lives in relative safety in neighboring Syria.<ref name=Tachjian>Tachjian Vahé, [https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/expulsion-non-turkish-ethnic-and-religious-groups-turkey-syria-during-1920s-and-early-1930s The expulsion of non-Turkish ethnic and religious groups from Turkey to Syria during the 1920s and early 1930s], ''Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence'', [online], published on: 5 March, 2009, accessed 09/12/2019, ISSN 1961-9898</ref> Consequently, the border areas in al-Hasakah Governorate started to have a Kurdish majority, while Arabs remained the majority in river plains and elsewhere. The population of the governorate reached 155,643 in 1949, including about 60,000 Kurds.<ref name="Gibert and Févret">La Djezireh syrienne et son réveil économique. André Gibert, Maurice Févret, 1953. [https://www.persee.fr/doc/geoca_0035-113x_1953_num_28_1_1294 La Djezireh syrienne et son réveil économique]. In: Revue de géographie de Lyon, vol. 28, n°1, 1953. pp. 1-15; doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/geoca.1953.1294  Accessed on 8 December 2019.</ref> These continuous waves swelled the number of Kurds in the area who represented 37% of the Jazira population in a 1939 French authorities census.<ref>Algun, S., 2011. [https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/205821 Sectarianism in the Syrian Jazira: Community, land and violence in the memories of World War I and the French mandate (1915- 1939)]. Ph.D. Dissertation. Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands. Pages 11-12. Accessed on 8 December 2019.</ref> In 1953, French geographers Fevret and Gibert estimated that out of the total 146,000 inhabitants of Jazira, agriculturalist Kurds made up 60,000 (41%), semi-sedentary and nomad Arabs 50,000 (34%), and a quarter of the population were Christians.<ref name="fevret">{{cite journal|last=Fevret|first=Maurice |author2=Gibert, André |year=1953|title=La Djezireh syrienne et son réveil économique |journal=Revue de géographie de Lyon|issue=28|pages=1–15|language=French|url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/geoca_0035-113x_1953_num_28_1_1294|accessdate=2012-03-29}}</ref>
+It is estimated that at the beginning of the 20th century an unknown number of Kurds lived in the [[Kurd-Dagh]] region; 16,000 Kurds lived in the [[Jarabulus]] region; and an unknown number lived in the [[Al-Jazira province|Jazira province]], where they were likely the majority.<ref name=Tejel2>{{cite book|last=Jordi Tejel |first=translated from the French by Emily Welle|title=Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society|url=https://archive.org/details/syriaskurdshisto00teje |url-access=limited |year=2009|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=0-203-89211-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/syriaskurdshisto00teje/page/n24 10]|edition=1. publ. |author2=Welle, Jane}}</ref> In the 1920s after the failed [[Kurdish rebellions]] in [[Single-party period of the Republic of Turkey|Kemalist Turkey]], there was a large migration of Kurds to Syria's Jazira province. It is estimated that 25,000 Kurds fled at this time to Syria.<ref name=McDowell>{{cite book|last=McDowell|first=David|title=A Modern History of the Kurds |year=2005|publisher=Tauris|location=London [u.a.]|isbn=1-85043-416-6|pages=469|edition=3. revised and upd. ed., repr.}}</ref> According to [[Stefan Sperl]], these Kurdish newcomers constituted no more than 10% of the Kurdish population of Jazira at the time. All were granted citizenship by the French mandate authorities, who recognized their agricultural skills.<ref name=Kreyenbroek1>{{cite book|last=Kreyenbroek|first=Philip G.|title=The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview|year=1992|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=0-415-07265-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/147 147]|author2=Sperl, Stefan|url=https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/147}}</ref> French official reports show the existence of 45 Kurdish villages in Jazira prior to 1927. A new wave of refugees arrived in 1929.<ref name=tejel3 /> The mandatory authorities continued to encourage Kurdish migration to Syria, and by 1939, the villages numbered between 700 and 800.<ref name=tejel3>{{cite book|last=Tejel|first=Jordi|title=Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society|year=2009 |publisher=Routledge|location=London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lh9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT250|isbn=0-203-89211-9|page=144|}}</ref> Sperl's estimation contradicts the estimates of the French geographers Fevret and Gibert,<ref name="fevret">{{cite journal|last=Fevret|first=Maurice |author2=Gibert, André |year=1953|title=La Djezireh syrienne et son réveil économique |journal=Revue de géographie de Lyon|issue=28|pages=1–15|language=French|url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/geoca_0035-113x_1953_num_28_1_1294|accessdate=2012-03-29}}</ref> who estimated that in 1953 out of the total 146,000 inhabitants of Jazira, agriculturalist Kurds made up 60,000 (41%), nomad Arabs 50,000 (34%), and a quarter of the population were Christians.<ref name=fevret />
-Another demographic shift took place after [[Syrian Republic (1946–1963)|Syria's independence]], as the governing [[Ba'ath Party]] implemented [[Arabization]] policies in northern Syria, settling additional Arabs in the area, while displacing Kurds.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=27}} Mass migration also took place during the [[Syrian civil war]]. Accordingly, estimates as to the ethnic composition of northern Syria vary widely, ranging from claims about a Kurdish majority to claims about Kurds being a small minority.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=7–16}} In addition, the Kurdish population of Syria has been highly segmented due to the different backgrounds and lifestyles of Kurdish groups.{{sfnp|Tejel|2009|p=9}}
-{| class="wikitable"
-|+1939 French Mandate survey<ref>Algun, S., 2011. Sectarianism in the Syrian Jazira: Community, land and violence in the memories of World War I and the French mandate (1915- 1939). Ph.D. Dissertation. Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands. Page 11. Accessed on 7 October 2020.</ref>
-!City
-!Syrian Arabs
-!Armenians
-!Assyrians
-!Kurds
-|-
-|Qamishli  City
-|7990
-|3500
-|14,140
-|5892
-|-
-|Ras al-Ayn
-|2283
-|N/A
-|2263
-|1025
-|-
-|Hasakah City
-|7133
-|500
-|5700
-|360
-|}
+Even though Kurds have a long history in Syria, the [[Syrian government]] has used the fact that many Kurds fled to Syria during the 1920s to claim that Kurds are not indigenous to the country and to justify its discriminatory policies against them.<ref name=Yildiz1>{{cite book|last=Yildiz|first=Kerim|title=The Kurds in Syria: The Forgotten People|url=https://archive.org/details/kurdssyriaforgot00yild|url-access=limited|year=2005|publisher=Pluto Press, in association with Kurdish Human Rights Project|location=London [etc.]|isbn=0-7453-2499-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/kurdssyriaforgot00yild/page/n29 25]|edition=1. publ.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qgKE_-HtfoAC&pg=PA475&dq=kurds+in+Syria&hl=en&ei=7QYITeCsLM2hOorEueMO&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=kurds%20in%20Syria&f=false |title=A Companion to the History of the Middle East|author=Youssef M. Choueiri|edition=Hardcover|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2005|isbn=1-4051-0681-6|page=475}}</ref> Many [[Arabic]]-speaking Kurds are classified as Arabs by the [[Arab nationalist]] [[Syrian government]].<ref>https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/rojavas-sustainability-and-the-pkks-regional-strategy</ref>
-== Controversies ==
-According to some researchers, extremist Kurdish nationalists have used the concept of "Syrian Kurdistan" to portray native Arabs in Upper Mesopotamia as foreign "settler herds", contributing to regional ethnic tensions. As a result, the academic book ''The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth'' argued that the "Syrian 'Kurdish issue' can only be resolved within the framework of a purely Syrian national solution, outside the inventions of 'West Kurdistan', and in a way that sets Syrian Kurds within the context of belonging to Syrian society and its institutionalized state form as the Syrian Arab Republic".<ref>Hamza Mustapha, 2018 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.31430/almuntaqa.1.3.0111.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A46c7429c40b6fc8dd5021b2dffe56bde Review: The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth]</ref> Accodring to a book review by the PhD candidate [[Mustapha Hamza]] extremist Kurdish nationalists have used the concept of "Syrian Kurdistan" to portray native Arabs in Upper Mesopotamia as foreign "settler herds", contributing to regional ethnic tensions. As a result, the academic book ''The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth'' argued that the "Syrian 'Kurdish issue' can only be resolved within the framework of a purely Syrian national solution, outside the inventions of 'West Kurdistan, and in a way that sets Syrian Kurds within the context of belonging to Syrian society and its institutionalized state form as the Syrian Arab Republic".<ref>Hamza Mustapha, 2018 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.31430/almuntaqa.1.3.0111.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A46c7429c40b6fc8dd5021b2dffe56bde Review: The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth]</ref>
+[[File:Syria Ethno-religious composition..jpg|thumb|left|200px|1976 ethnic composition map of Syria (Kurdish-inhabited areas are shaded in pink)]]
-== See also ==
-*[[Arab Belt]]
-*[[Kurds in Syria]]
-==Notes==
+== Controversies ==
+The term Syrian Kurdistan is often used in the context of [[Kurdish nationalism]], which makes it a controversial concept among proponents of [[Syrian nationalism|Syrian]] and [[Arab nationalism]].<ref name=":0" />{{Better source needed|date=October 2020}}<!-- who is the author of the book? Mustapha Hamza isn't, I was explained --> Extremist Kurdish nationalists have used the concept of Syrian Kurdistan to portray [[Arabs]] in [[Upper Mesopotamia]] as foreign "settler herds", sometimes using the relatively small 1970s migration involved in the [[Arab Belt]] (similar to the government's use of the 1920s Kurdish migration) as justification, thus contributing to regional ethnic tensions. A book review by PhD candidate Mustapha Hamza of ''The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth'' argued that the "Syrian 'Kurdish issue' can only be resolved within the framework of a purely Syrian national solution, outside the inventions of 'West Kurdistan', and in a way that sets Syrian Kurds within the context of belonging to Syrian society and its institutionalized state form as the Syrian Arab Republic", an [[Arab nationalist]] stance common among Syria's Arab citizens.<ref name=":0">Hamza Mustapha, 2018 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.31430/almuntaqa.1.3.0111.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A46c7429c40b6fc8dd5021b2dffe56bde Review: The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth]</ref><!-- who is the author of the book? Mustapha Hamza isn't, I was explained -->{{Better source needed|date=October 2020}}{{notelist}}
-{{notelist}}
 ==References==
@@ Line 90: / Line 59: @@
 {{Syrian Civil War}}
+[[Category:Arab irredentism]]
 [[Category:Eastern Mediterranean]]
+[[Category:Geography of Kurdistan]]
 [[Category:Geography of Syria]]
 [[Category:Kurdistan]]