By Jamie Watt
This past week’s development and de-escalation in Rojava have brought forth familiar emotions for Kurds worldwide. No doubt there is relief that the security situation has not gotten worse. But hidden behind that relief is the significant disappointment that much of the gains the Syrian Kurds have fought for will be slowly eroded in the coming days. In this, Syria’s Kurds have tasted a pattern not unfamiliar to the Kurdish people—progress, betrayal, concessions, and survival.
While Syria’s Kurds may be able to hold on to a small fraction of the governing autonomy they have grown used to (in the form of local or municipal governance), in the simplest terms they chose to negotiate for the “least bad” option on the table in order to preserve day-to-day stability while succombing to the inevitable reality of inclusion into the new Syrian state.
The small but real win in Rojava is a measure of continuity and stability. Local administrations are still functioning. Schools remain open. Kurdish security forces are still present. For ordinary people, daily life has not abruptly unraveled into chaos as it may have.
That stability matters. In the past decade of Syria’s history, the alternative has often been conflict, destruction, or displacement. Some measure of preserving the status quo is still a win.
At the same time, it is important to be clear about what this continuity is not. Kurds have, in fact, lost much of what they hoped for in Syria. There is no formal recognition of autonomy. No constitutional protection (though there have been promises of acknowledgement). And no acknowledgment that Kurdish self-rule is a legitimate feature of the Syrian state. What remains of Rojava’s governance is tolerated, perhaps only temporarily.
Much of the debate of the past year has revolved around the future of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The language of “integration” sounds good, particularly to the ears of Western policymakers who are tired of the Syrian conflict. After all, what foreign powers would not want to get behind a unified Syria? In practice, the integration of the SDF is a loss of control, an erosion of self-protection, and the end of a hard-fought era in Kurdish security.
There is no guarantee that integration will equal partnership—or anything really for the rank-and-file Kurdish soldier who fought to keep Rojava safe these years. While Kurdish forces are not disappearing overnight, the direction is clear: key decisions—security, borders, external relations—will come from Damascus.
None of this is especially surprising. The Syrian state, backed by much of the international community, which is seeking a return to the long-lost status quo, has been steadily reclaiming each pocket of the country. With the embrace of key Western powers, Kurdish self-administration proved to be provisional and limited in scope—not based on ethics, loyalty, or goodwill.
This past week, Kurdish leaders chose negotiation instead of confrontation—accepting the inevitable to avoid something far worse. We cannot fault them for making a strategically wise decision, even if the results are underwhelming.
For Kurds beyond Syria, particularly in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, this moment should spur reflection. Kurdish governance in Syria did not fail. In fact, it succeeded as the stable corner of a divided Syria for more than a decade. But any form of Kurdish governance remains vulnerable if it lacks constitutional backing and long-term, sustainable diplomatic partnerships with major Western powers such as the United States.
When all is said and done, the Kurds of Syria have spent a decade fighting to simply trade one Allawi dictator in for a Sunni President who is openly a former Jihadi. But over the past 10 years, a generation of Kurds in northern Syria has experienced self-administration, effective security forces, local decision-making, and greater visibility on the international stage. Even amidst a disappointing turn of events for Syrian Kurds, the seeds of this past decade will no doubt blossom into a generation of Kurds hungry for a better self-governed future—in whatever form that takes.