QAMISHLI, Syria — Kurds in Syria were marginalized during five decades of Assad family rule, with many denied citizenship and wrongly described as Arabs. Now they are seizing the chance during ...

QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — Kurds in Syria were marginalized during five decades of Assad family rule, with many denied citizenship and wrongly described as Arabs. Now they are seizing the chance ...

Men play cards at a coffee shop in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli, which is controlled by the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. QAMISHLI ...

The Kurds, one of the world’s largest populations without a state of their own, have been feeling some control over their lives and want to make that permanent with a new government in power.

Kurds in Syria have bigger issues with Ankara, according to Lukyanov. “How Turkey will act, what goals it will set for itself, that will be the determining factor,” he said.

The main Kurdish-led force now controls about 25% of Syria. An autonomous authority runs day-to-day affairs of the region that many Kurds call “Rojava Kurdistan” or “western Kurdistan”.