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Syrian Kurdistan or Western Kurdistan (Template:Lang-ku), often shortened to Rojava, is regarded by some Kurds and some regional experts as the part of Kurdistan in Syria. In this conception, Syrian Kurdistan is joined by southeastern Turkey (Turkish Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), and northwestern Iran (Iranian Kurdistan). The term Syrian Kurdistan is often used in the context of Kurdish nationalism, which makes it a controversial concept among proponents of Syrian and Arab nationalism. There is ambiguity about its geographical extent, and the term has different meanings depending on context.

History

The late 19th-century Chambers's Encyclopaedia referred to "west Kurdistan" as bordering Iran in its entry on that country. A German gymnasium text book from Sorau (modern Żary) describes Diyarbakır as being "on the upper Tigris, in West Kurdistan". Amand von Schweiger-Lerchenfeld [de], who travelled over much of the Ottoman Empire, also referred to "West Kurdistan" in his Der Orient of 1882, while Daniel Völter [de], in his Allgemeine Erdbeschreibung, also mentioned "West Kurdistan" in 1848. "West Kurdistan" was referred to by Mark Sykes in his 1908 paper in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute as being in part of Kurdistan conquered by Selim I (r. 1512–1520). Sykes, having undertaken a 7,500-mile (12,100 km) journey through the Ottoman Empire, published one of first surveys in English on the Kurdish tribes.

Although the concept of an independent Kurdistan as homeland of the Kurdish people has a long history, the extent of said territory has been disputed over time. Kurds have lived in territories which later became part of modern Syria for centuries, and following the partition of the Ottoman Empire, the Kurdish population before living in the Ottoman Empire, was divided between its successor states Turkey, Iraq and Syria. Local Kurdish parties generally maintained ideologies which stayed in a firmly Syrian framework, and did not aspire to create a separate Syrian Kurdistan. In the 1920s, there were two separate demands for an autonomy of the areas with a Kurdish majority. One of Nouri Kandy, an influential Kurd from the Kurd Dagh, and another one of the Kurdish tribal leaders of the Barazi confederation. Both demands were not taken into consideration by the authorities of the French Mandate. According to Jordi Tejel, until the 1980s Kurdish-inhabited areas of Syria were mainly regarded as "Kurdish regions of Syria".

Etymology

The idea of a Syrian territory being part of a "Kurdistan" or "Syrian Kurdistan" gained more widespread support among Syrian Kurds in the 1980s and 1990s. Several smaller Kurdish political movements in Syria, amongst them the Yekiti and the Azadi, began to organize manifestations in cities with a large Kurdish population demanding a better treatment of the Kurdish population while advocating for an recognition of a "Syrian Kurdistan". This development was fueled by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that strengthened Kurdish nationalist ideas in Syria, whereas local Kurdish parties had previously lacked success in promoting "a clear political project" related to a Kurdish identity, partially due to political repression by the Syrian government. Despite the role of the PKK in initially spreading the concept of "Syrian Kurdistan", the Democratic Union Party (PYD) (the Syrian "successor" of the PKK). generally refrained from calling for the establishment of "Syrian Kurdistan". As the PKK and PYD call for the removal of national borders in general, the two parties believed that there was no need for the creation of a separate "Syrian Kurdistan", as their internationalist project would allow for the unification of Kurdistan through indirect means. Some observers see Syrian Kurdistan as a concept emerging from the ongoing Syrian Civil War.

The concept of a Syrian Kurdistan gained even more relevance after the Syrian Civil War's start, as Kurdish-inhabited areas in northern Syria fell under the control of Kurdish-dominated factions. The PYD established an autonomous administration in northern Syria which it eventually began to call "Rojava" or "West Kurdistan". By 2014, many local Kurds used this name synonymously to northeastern Syria. Non-PYD parties such as the KNC also began to raise demands for the establishment of Syrian Kurdistan as separate area, raising increasing concerns by Syrian nationalists and some observers who regarded these plans as attempts to divide Syria. As the PYD-led administration gained control over increasingly ethnically diverse areas, however, the use of "Rojava" for the merging proto-state was gradually reduced in official contexts. Regardless, the polity continued to be called Rojava by locals and international observers, with journalist Metin Gurcan noting that "the concept of Rojava a brand gaining global recognition" by 2019.

Extent

"Syrian Kurdistan", as understood in the modern sense, has no clearly defined territory. According to the Crisis Group, the term "refers to the western area of 'Kurdistan'", namely those in Syria. In the 20th century, Kurdistan was usually only included areas in Turkey and Iraq. The Kurdish-inhabited areas in northern Syria are adjacent to "Turkish Kurdistan" in the north and "Iraqi Kurdistan" in the east. Accordingly, some researchers argue that the Kurdish problem is Syria was originally a Turkish problem that shifted into Syria, as Kurds from Turkey migrated to Syria and took their national concepts with them.

By 2013, "Rojava" had become synonymous with PYD-ruled areas, regardless of ethnic majorities. For the most part, the term was used to refer to the "non-contiguous Kurdish-populated areas" in the region. In 2015 a map by Kurdish National Council (KNC) member Nori Brimo was published which largely mirrored the Ekurd Daily's maps, but also included the Hatay Province. The claimed map includes large swaths of Arab-majority areas.

Demographic background

Northern Syria is an ethnically diverse region. Kurds constitute one of several groups which have lived in northern Syria since antiquity or the Middle Ages. The first Kurdish communitites constituted a minority and mostly consisted of nomads or military colonists. During the Ottoman Empire (1516–1922), large Kurdish-speaking tribal groups both settled in and were deported to areas of northern Syria from Anatolia. Until the beginning of the 20th century, parts of al-Hasakah Governorate (then called Jazira province) were "no man's land" primarily reserved for the grazing land of nomadic and semi-sedentary tribes. The last years of Ottoman rule witnessed extensive demographic changes in northern Syria as a result of the Assyrian Genocide and mass migrations. Many Assyrians fled to Syria during the genocide and settled mainly in the Jazira area.

Starting in 1926, the region saw another immigration of Kurds following the failure of the Sheikh Said rebellion against the Turkish authorities. Waves of Kurds fled their homes in Turkey and settled in Syrian Al-Jazira Province, where they were granted citizenship by the authorities of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. The number of Kurds settled in the Jazira province during the 1920s was estimated at 20,000 to 25,000 people, out of 100,000 inhabitants, with the remainder of the population being Christians (Syriac, Armenian, Assyrian) and Arabs. According to Michael Gunter, many Kurds still do not see themselves as belonging to either the Turkish or Syrian Kurdistan, but rather as one who originates from "above the line" (Kurdish: Ser Xhet) or "below the line" (Kurdish:Bin Xhet).

French mandate authorities gave the new Kurdish refugees considerable rights and encouraged minority autonomy as part of a divide and rule strategy and recruited heavily from the Kurds and other minority groups, such as Alawite and Druze, for its local armed forces. French Mandate authorities encouraged their immigration and granted them Syrian citizenship. The French official reports show the existence of at most 45 Kurdish villages in Jazira prior to 1927. A new wave of refugees arrived in 1929. The mandatory authorities continued to encourage Kurdish immigration into Syria, and by 1939, the villages numbered between 700 and 800. The French authorities themselves generally organized the settlement of the refugees. One of the most important of these plans was carried out in Upper Jazira in northeastern Syria where the French built new towns and villages (such as Qamishli) were built with the intention of housing the refugees considered to be "friendly". This has encouraged the non-Turkish minorities that were under Turkish pressure to leave their ancestral homes and property, they could find refuge and rebuild their lives in relative safety in neighboring Syria. Consequently, the border areas in al-Hasakah Governorate started to have a Kurdish majority, while Arabs remained the majority in river plains and elsewhere. The population of the governorate reached 155,643 in 1949, including about 60,000 Kurds. These continuous waves swelled the number of Kurds in the area who represented 37% of the Jazira population in a 1939 French authorities census. In 1953, French geographers Fevret and Gibert estimated that out of the total 146,000 inhabitants of Jazira, agriculturalist Kurds made up 60,000 (41%), semi-sedentary and nomad Arabs 50,000 (34%), and a quarter of the population were Christians.

Due to the successive immigration waves, the population of northeastern Syria has seen several unnatural, big jumps (as shown in the table) fueled by the arrival of Kurds from Turkey. For example, the Jazira population jumped by 42.7% between 1931 and 1932. Likewise, the population jumped by 45.8% between 1933 and 1935. Another very significant jump happened in 1953 when the population swelled by 30.8% compared to the year before.

The French geographer Robert Montagne summarized the situation in 1932 as follows:

We are seeing an increase in village establishment that are either constructed by the Kurds descending from the Anatolian mountains (north of the border) to cultivate or as a sign of increasing settlement of Arab groups with the help of their Armenian and Yezidi farmers.

These successive Kurdish immigrations from Turkey have led the governing Ba'ath Party to think about Arabization policies in northern Syria, settling 4000 farmer families from areas inundated by the Tabqa Dam in Raqqa Governorate in al-Hasakah Governorate Mass migration also took place during the Syrian civil war. Accordingly, estimates as to the ethnic composition of northern Syria vary widely, ranging from claims about a Kurdish majority to claims about Kurds being a small minority. In addition, the Kurdish population of Syria has been highly segmented due to the different backgrounds and lifestyles of Kurdish groups.

Controversies

According to some researchers, extremist Kurdish nationalists have used the concept of "Syrian Kurdistan" to portray native Arabs in Upper Mesopotamia as foreign "settler herds", contributing to regional ethnic tensions. As a result, the academic book The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth argued that the "Syrian 'Kurdish issue' can only be resolved within the framework of a purely Syrian national solution, outside the inventions of 'West Kurdistan', and in a way that sets Syrian Kurds within the context of belonging to Syrian society and its institutionalized state form as the Syrian Arab Republic". Accodring to a book review by the PhD candidate Mustapha Hamza extremist Kurdish nationalists have used the concept of "Syrian Kurdistan" to portray native Arabs in Upper Mesopotamia as foreign "settler herds", contributing to regional ethnic tensions. As a result, the academic book The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth argued that the "Syrian 'Kurdish issue' can only be resolved within the framework of a purely Syrian national solution, outside the inventions of 'West Kurdistan, and in a way that sets Syrian Kurds within the context of belonging to Syrian society and its institutionalized state form as the Syrian Arab Republic".

See also

• Arab Belt
• Kurds in Syria

Notes

1. It is difficult to properly define early Kurds, as "Kurdish" was often used as a catch-all word for nomadic tribal groups west of Iran during antiquity and medieval times.

References

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64. Allsopp & van Wilgenburg (2019), pp. 7–16.
65. Tejel (2009), p. 9.
66. Algun, S., 2011. Sectarianism in the Syrian Jazira: Community, land and violence in the memories of World War I and the French mandate (1915- 1939). Ph.D. Dissertation. Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands. Page 11. Accessed on 7 October 2020.
67. Hamza Mustapha, 2018 Review: The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth
68. Hamza Mustapha, 2018 Review: The Issue of the Kurds in Syria: Facts, History and Myth

Works cited

• Allsopp, Harriet; van Wilgenburg, Wladimir (2019). The Kurds of Northern Syria. Volume 2: Governance, Diversity and Conflicts. London; New York City; etc.: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-8386-0445-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Tejel, Jordi (2009). Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society. Abingdon-on-Thames, New York City: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-42440-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Meri, Josef W. (2006). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Volume 1: A - K. New York City, London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-96691-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Vanly, Ismet Chériff (1992). "The Kurds in Syria and Lebanon". In Philip G. Kreyenbroek; Stefan Sperl (eds.). The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. New York City, London: Routledge. pp. 112–134. ISBN 978-0-415-96691-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Syria (Rojava or Western Kurdistan) by The Kurdish Project
• Examining the Experiment in Western Kurdistan by the LSE Middle East Centre
• The Emergence of Western Kurdistan and the Future of Syria by Robert Lowe

• Eastern Mediterranean
• Geography of Syria
• Kurdistan
• Kurds in Syria
• Levant
• Politics of Syria
• Subdivisions of Syria
• Syrian Kurdistan
• Upper Mesopotamia