Why in the News?
Renewed fighting has erupted in Syria between government forces led by interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), threatening to roll back Kurdish autonomy that has existed since the 2011 civil war.
Background Context
- The regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed in December 2024
- Ahmed al-Sharaa promised an inclusive administration but pushed for a centralised Syrian state
- Ethnic and religious minorities, including Kurds, resisted centralisation
- Sectarian violence resurfaced against Alawites and Druze, followed by clashes with Kurds
Who Are the Syrian Kurds?
- Kurds form about 10 percent of Syria’s population
- Concentrated in north and northeast Syria
- Long standing demand for autonomy, not secession
- In 2012, Assad withdrew troops from the northeast
- Kurds filled the vacuum and declared autonomous regions called cantons
- These areas together formed the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), also called Rojava
| [2016] Consider the following pairs: Community sometimes mentioned in the news : In the affairs ofÂ
1. Kurd : Bangladesh 2. Madhesi : Nepal 3. Rohingya : Myanmar Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 only (c) 2 and 3 (d) 3 only |
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
