A loss of land and a sense of betrayal: How Syria’s Kurds saw their autonomy unravel

The future of Kurds in Syria hangs in the balance after dramatic shifts in control over the past week, marking a major turning point for the Kurdish issue across the region.

Over the past decade, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have controlled the most resource-rich parts of Syria, which are being dismantled with the acquiescence of the US, the same power that helped create the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in the north of neighbouring Iraq.

The Syrian government’s takeover of SDF areas marks the end of a unique experiment in the history of the Kurds, a transnational minority left out of deals between the great powers that shaped the Middle East at the beginning of the 20th century.

From Syria to Iraq to other areas of the region, Kurdish political projects have long rested on fragile understandings with stronger states and the shifting calculations of international backers. The erosion of SDF control, therefore, indicates a wider retreat of Kurdish autonomy.

Kurdish families fleeing a government advance arrive in the city of Qamishli. AFP

The contrast with Iraq is telling. The Kurdistan region remains the most institutionalised Kurdish entity in the Middle East, yet its room for political and economic manoeuvre has steadily declined under pressure from Baghdad and neighbouring states. Syria’s Kurds had hoped their experiment in self-rule might follow a similar path, evolving from wartime autonomy into