The declaration of a federal region in northern Syria by Kurdish groups “could offer a model for decentralized governance in a federated Syria,” said the New York Times this week.
In an editorial entitled ‘The Kurds’ Push for Self-Rule in Syria’, it said “the Kurds are an ethnic group of perhaps 35 million in Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey, and they have long argued that they are the world’s largest ethnic group without a state”.
“They have suffered persecution and had their aspirations for self-governance crushed,” continued the New York Times, noting that “the American invasion of Iraq created an opportunity for Kurds living there to establish a semiautonomous region in northern Iraq, which has been reasonably successful”.
The editorial went on to conclude:
“The Syrian Kurds say they are not seeking total independence, only a democratic region in which they, Arabs and other ethnic groups can live together. This may be an idea worth building on as part of a political solution to end the war and the slaughter of civilians.”
See our earlier posts:
Kurds declare federal region on northern Syria (17 Mar 2016)
Kurds to declare federal system in Northern Syria (16 Mar 2016)