By Mumtaz Moosa Saley

30/10/2019

Kurds make up about 7% of Syria’s population. Before the uprising, the Kurds lived in the main cities of Syria. While they have been denied basic human rights in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria the Kurds have been denied basic citizenship and are currently without land.

In many countries Kurds were not allowed to speak in their mother tongue nor are they able to wear traditional clothing, yet human rights groups remained silent.

While the Kurds in many areas of Syria have been in the forefront of the war against ISIS, The Kurdish groups have said that they are not seeking independence from the country, but for the guarantee for Kurdish rights and recognition of Kurdish autonomy.

President Assad has vowed that he will take all the land back, he has also openly rejected the calls for the Kurds to be recognised.

When the uprising evolved into a civil war, the main Kurdish parties avoided taking sides. In mid-2012, the government forces had withdrawn forces in many areas to focus on fighting the rebels and that is when Kurdish groups took control in their wake.

To this day 30 million Kurds, who are mostly Sunni Muslims remain stateless, and will not be recognized by any of the countries in which they live.