Forged in Crisis

The political mobilization in the Middle East widely known as the Arab Spring brought new relevance to the Kurdish Question in Syria; where the spring initially manifested as peacefully conducted protests. As the situation in Syria became a civil war submerged tensions have been brought to the surface of Syrian society. Despite the desire of many of its founders, Syria’s population is not made of one homogeneous ethnic identity. There are several religious as well as non-Arab ethnic minorities who have lived and continue to live on the lands that are currently confined within the national borders of Syria. The largest of these minority groups is the Kurds. Alongside other ethnic and religious based tensions, the concerns and aspirations of Syria’s Kurds have become an element that needs to be dealt with if the multifaceted violence of the civil war is to be brought under control and ended in a lasting way. The main research question of this thesis is: What impact has the Syrian Crisis had on the way Kurdish identity is expressed, presented and viewed? In order to evaluate changes in the perception of Kurdish identity as a result of the Syrian Crisis it is important establish the historical context of Kurdish identity expressions in Syria. This has made it necessary to examine a fairly lengthy time period stretching from the beginning of The French Mandate Period (1920) until June 2013. The present work builds upon earlier historiography of Syrian Kurds examining trends in Syrian Kurdish nationalism analysing how identity is expressed, and tracing changes in these expressions to the present day. The term “Kurdish Question”, is convenient shorthand for a series of politically sensitive and geopolitically uncomfortable questions. Put simply the Kurdish Question is this: Can a Kurdish Nation-State be created? Since the Mandate Period, Kurds have lived in a state of liminality without a state of their own and lacking basic civil rights afforded to other Syrians. In recent years the Kurds of Iraq have established a semi-autonomous region in the north of the country. This development had the effect of reawakening the efforts of Syrian Kurds to express their identity. Since the early 2000s Kurdish parties in Syria have become more aware of image management in the way that they present their struggle for identity rights. The Democratic Union Party (PYD) has been particularly adept in this area. The techniques it uses share similarities to the way that a company might brand itself. Since the war the PYD has paid close attention to how its image is perceived, and strives to control expressions of Kurdish identity along party lines, in essence it has created its own brand of Kurdishness. This ‘brand’ is presented digitally online and physically. How Syria’s Kurds will fair in the outcome of the civil war depends on how they are perceived by the other opposition forces. These perceptions are shaped by the regional connections of the Kurds, opposition forces and governments. How Kurdish identity is perceived has become more important than ever.