Kurds Want Syria to Become a Federal State

• 02.16.2015, 19:54
•  Near East,  World

Syrian Kurds leaders announced that the whole north and north-east of Syria from now on is a "unified political and geographic area", which consists of self-governing regions. Al-Hayat media center informs that the Syrian Kurds consider the creation of an autonomous region an important step on the way of changing the governing system in Syria, which they think must be decentralized. Kurdish leaders’ meeting adopted a decision according to which Syria must become a federal state and turn into a parliamentary republic. Kurdish representatives think such a system will better reflect the multi-ethnic nature of the country and will be a real alternative to the totalitarian regime, or "Islamic state".

According to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Kurdish "autonomous region" includes all three major Kurdish districts in northern Syria. It should be mentioned that this announcement came after the Kurdish forces, supported by U.S.-led air strikes, drove Islamic State fighters from the town of Kobani last month near the Turkish border. According to Reuters, the Observatory said that the Kurds regained control over at least 163 villages around Kobani in three weeks since they had pushed Islamic State fighters out of the town.

Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, comprising 10 to 15 percent of the country's population. After the Arab spring many Kurds seek political autonomy for the Kurdish inhabited areas of Syria, similar to Iraqi Kurdistan in Iraq. Kurdish military victories in recent months contribute to the realization of this idea.