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Syrian Kurdistan or Western Kurdistan is a fictional descriptor that refers to an area in the Middle East, located in northern and north-eastern Syria. The term is a Kurdish nationalist description of a geographic area, which Kurdish groups now claim as historically being populated by Kurds, but in reality the Kurds only come to dominate after they attentively assisted and participated, during the last few decades of the Ottoman Empire, in massacring and driving away the people (Syriacs, Assyrians, Arabs, and Armenians) who truly and historically always lived in the region claimed it as their own. Another reason for the rapid increase in the number of Kurds in the region was the Assad regime, which allowed them to move into it in return for the PKK allying with the Assad regime. The region was included in the Syrian state by French Mandatory authorities following WWI. Since 2012, much of the Syrian Kurdistan came to be controlled by Kurdish militant groups as part of the Syrian civil war.

Kurdish nationalist concept

Kurdistan

Kurdish-inhabited areas
Language	Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic and Persian
Location	Western and Northwestern Iranian Plateau: Upper Mesopotamia, Zagros, Southeastern Anatolia, including parts of northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey
Area (Est.)	190,000 km²–390,000 km² 74,000 sq.mi–151,000 sq.mi
Population	25 to 30 Million (Kurdish Population) (Est.)

Contemporary use of Kurdistan refers to parts of eastern Turkey (Turkish Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), northwestern Iran (Iranian Kurdistan) and northern Syria (Western Kurdistan) inhabited mainly by Kurds. Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges, and covers small portions of Armenia.

2012 Kurdish rebellion in Syria

Under the administration of the Kurdish Supreme Committee, the Popular Protection Units (YPG) were created to control the Kurdish inhabited areas in Syria. On 19 July, the YPG captured the city of Kobanê (Ayn al-Arab), and the next day captured Amûdê and Efrîn. The KNC and PYD afterwards formed a joint leadership council to run the captured cities. By 24 July, the Syrian Kurdish cities of Dêrika Hemko (Al-Malikiyah), Serê Kaniyê (Ra's al-'Ayn), Dirbêsî (Al-Darbasiyah) and Girkê Legê (Al-Ma'bada) had also come under the control of the Popular Protection Units. The only major Kurdish inhabited cities that remained under government control were Hasaka and Qamishli.

Major cities

See also

• 2012 Syrian Kurdistan rebellion
• Al-Jazira province
• Iranian Kurdistan
• Iraqi Kurdistan
• Turkish Kurdistan

References

1. The secret garden of the Syrian Kurdistan
2. "Kurdistan - Definitions from Dictionary.com". Retrieved 2007-10-21.
3. "Kurdish Studies Program". Florida State University. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
4. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2005.
5. Kurdistan, Britannica Concise.
6. ^ "More Kurdish Cities Liberated As Syrian Army Withdraws from Area". Rudaw. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
7. "Armed Kurds Surround Syrian Security Forces in Qamishli". Rudaw. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
8. "Girke Lege Becomes Sixth Kurdish City Liberated in Syria". Rudaw. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.

Template:Iranian-speaking regions

• Secession in Syria
• Kurdistan independence movement