The Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union is a Kurdish political organization that is active in Syria.[1] It was formed by four parties discontent with the perceived weakness of the Kurdish National Council as a "subgroup" within the council to foster unity.[2] The three parties that are part of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union include the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDP-S), the Kurdish Freedom Party in Syria backed by Mustafa Khidr Oso and the Azadi Kurdish Party in Syria backed by Mustafa Cuma.[1] The militia it formed clashed with the Popular Protection Units (YPG), a militia controlled by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), in April 2013.[3] The alliance currently claims to have 1,500 fighters in Syria, with the Kurdistan Regional Government training troops in Iraq that will eventually controlled by the alliance.[2] The two Freedom parties and the Kurdistani United Party (headed by Abdulbasit Hemo) will merge into the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria.[4]
Over time, however, the union has weakened due to internal disagreements. While it was ostensibly formed with the intent of an equitable merger between the parties, the stronger KDP-S has been accused of using its political clout and support from the KRG to try to subsume all other parties. Only KDP-S members were allowed to become part of the small militia, raising allegations that the KDP-S is behaving in a similar way to how the PYD monopolizes control on the YPG. The Yekîtî party has abandoned the group, and their spokesman believes that Cuma's Azadî party may do the same.[5] The PYD-linked Asayish did not allow members of the alliance to cross into Erbil, Iraq to conduct a meeting on 1 March 2014.[6] The Kurdish Azadi Party and three other parties merged into the KDP-S in early April 2014 (though it is not clear if the three other parties were also part of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union).[7]