Kurds of Northern Syria

Harriet Allsopp is a researcher and consultant. Her research has focused on Kurdish political organisation, nationalisms and channels of representation and dissent in Syria. She holds a PhD in Politics from Birkbeck College, University of London and is the author of The Kurds of Syria: Political Parties and Identity in the Middle East (I. B. Tauris, 2014). Wladimir van Wilgenburg is an analyst of Kurdish politics and a journalist living in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. Much of his work is based on first-hand research and interviews conducted on the ground in Iraqi Kurdistan and Northern Syria. In 2013, he received an MA from the University of Exeter’s Kurdish Studies program.

• MapsNote on Transliteration and Bibliographic Referencing List of Acronyms and AbbreviationsIntroductionScope of the study:Method and FieldworkClarifications and definitions:1 Identity and Representation I: the foundations of identity formation and representationThe demography of governanceKey influences on Kurdish identity formationo State building and legitimacy: o Tribal and local sub-state identities and channels of representation:o Pan-state identity:§ International class solidarity§ Religion § Pan-state Kurdish identityPolitics and political identityo The 1957 genealogyo The PKK and PYDThe Effects of the Crisis on Identity 2 Kurdish Political Parties: A Comparison of Political ValuesParties of 1957 and the KNCo The political spectrum and fragmentationo The dominant parties of the 1957 genealogy o The Kurdish National Council (KNC)o KNC policy and internal divisionso Military organisationso Party alliances and affiliations within the SyriaThe PYDArmed forcesPYD alliances and affiliations within SyriaCooperation and disagreement between the PYD and KNCA Comparison of political valueso Democracyo National and ethnic rights o Women’s rightso The Future of Syria3 PYD-led Governance Structures: From the DAAs to FederalismThe development of ‘Democratic Autonomy’: From the PYD to a federal region in under five yearsPower structures and constituent parts o Local DAA Governance o Councils and Communeso The economy o The Education systemo MediaThe Security of the Administrationso The Asayisho The YPGo Self-Defence Forces (HXP) and Civil Defence Forces (HPC)o Other Military forceso SalariesThe move towards federalism Local Obstacles to DAA control and to federalism· Ethnic and political diversity· KNC-PYD tensions and political oppositionA new state structure?4 Identity and Representation II: The Democratic Autonomy ProjectDirect democracy in practiceTransformations in identity and understandings of representation 2011-2016Women’s representationA revolution in representation? Opinions about the system5 The Role of Regional and International ActorsIntra-Kurdish power relationsRegional Relations · Turkey· Iraq· The Syrian government· IranInternational Relations· The USA· Russia6 The Prospects of Kurdish Self-Representation and Self-Governance The State context: Representation and identityThe northern Syria contextKurdish societyUncertaintyBibliography

A meticulously researched book and certainly the definitive account of this important region and its people.