The Kurds of north-east Syria

For twelve years a Kurdish-led administration governed a quarter of Syria, with its own army of perhaps a hundred thousand, its own schools and courts, and American soldiers at its side. It had fought the Islamic State on the ground for the Western coalition and guarded its prisoners. In January 2026 the new Syrian army advanced into its territory; in August its army, the Syrian Democratic Forces, dissolved itself. The Kurds now have to obtain by politics, from a government they distrust, what they once held by arms.

The wider conflict and each side's full account: Syria after Assad.

Where it stands · September 2026

Syria began gas flow from the Koniko field on 1 September to boost electricity. On 3 September the YPG handed over arms to the Syrian army. Kurdish forces lost ground as the United States backed centralized governments in Syria and Iraq. Kurdish families returned to Serekaniye in northern Syria. Türkiye said it saw a bright future for Kurds after the dissolution of the SDF. Syrian Kurds sought to preserve Kurdish schooling as Damascus reasserted authority.

What the dispute is about

Rights or autonomy. Damascus offers citizenship, language and culture within a centralised state. The Kurdish parties wanted a region that governs and defends itself. The agreement of 2025 promised integration and left that question open; events have answered it.

The connection to Turkey's war. The party that built the administration grew out of the PKK, which fought the Turkish state for forty years. For Ankara the two were one organisation. The PKK's decision in 2025 to disband changed what Turkey would tolerate, and what the Syrian Kurds could expect from anyone else.

The American guarantee. It was never written down. Washington armed the Kurds against the Islamic State, and said from the start that the partnership was temporary.

How each side explains it

The Kurdish account

Syrian Kurds were denied citizenship, language and land under the Assads. When the state withdrew they built an administration in which women commanded, minorities had seats and Arabs, Syriacs and Kurds governed together. They lost more than ten thousand fighters defeating the Islamic State for the world. They agreed to join the new Syria as one body, with guarantees. Instead the army attacked, their American ally stood aside, and they were left to dissolve. What has been granted by decree can be withdrawn by decree.

In our coverage

Kurdish political rights and self-administration deserve protection →25 headlines
Covered by:Al Jazeera · Associated Press · France 24 (EN) · Reuters · Le Monde · Deutsche Welle

Damascus's account

No state accepts a second army and a second government on a third of its territory, holding most of its oil and wheat. The Kurds are Syrian citizens with full rights, now recognised by decree for the first time in the country's history. The agreement to integrate was signed in March 2025 and not carried out for ten months. The state has now done what was agreed, with Kurdish commanders given rank and posts.

What each account leaves out

The Kurdish leaves out that their administration jailed opponents, conscripted young men and governed large Arab populations that had not chosen it; and that its leadership took direction from a party listed as terrorist by its own American ally.

Damascus's leaves out that it settled the matter by force in January, with thousands driven from Aleppo's Kurdish districts; and that fighters now in its army, then paid by Turkey, were found by United Nations investigators to have looted, seized homes and abducted Kurds in Afrin.

Turkey's leaves out its three military operations on Syrian soil and the Kurdish civilians they displaced.

Washington's leaves out that it has now twice left the Kurds to a stronger neighbour, in 2019 and 2026, after they had done its fighting.

The ledger

The Kurdish-led administration

Wanted: a self-governing region in a federal Syria.
Gained: citizenship, language rights, posts for its commanders.
Paid: its army, its oil revenue, its autonomy.

Damascus

Wanted: the north-east and its resources under one state.
Gained: them.
Paid: a population that came in under pressure and is already in the streets.

Turkey

Wanted: no Kurdish army on its border.
Gained

Words in dispute

Names and terms the sides do not share. This page keeps them out of its own voice.

autonomous administration / separatist entity
integration / surrender
SDF / PKK terrorists
Rojava / north-east Syria
decentralisation / partition
betrayal

Events per week

Per-week distribution of events. Click a bar to see that week's top events.

Click a week bar to select. Light blue = active week.

Week of Sep 28, 2026(2)

Chinese embassy: Facts undeniable in ex-SDF officer's intrusion case - news.cgtn.com

2 sourcesOct 2, 2026

Fire halts gas flow between Al-Shula and Deir ez-Zor in Syria

1 sourcesSep 28, 2026

The Kurds of north-east Syria

What the dispute is about

How each side explains it

The Kurdish account

Damascus's account

What each account leaves out

The ledger

The Kurdish-led administration

Damascus

Turkey

Words in dispute

Events per week

Primary actors

Also involved

Turkey's account

Washington's account

The United States

What changed the course