The Kurdish Supreme Committee ( ku, Desteya Bilind a Kurd; DBK) was a self-proclaimed governing body in Northern Syria, which was founded by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the

Kurdish National Council The Kurdish National Council (KNC, , ENKS; ar, المجلس الوطني الكوردي ''al-Majlis al-Waṭaniyy Al-Kurdi'') is a Syrian Kurdish political party. While the KNC had initially more international support than the ruling Democra ...

(KNC), following the signing on 12 July 2012 of a cooperation agreement between the two parties in Hewlêr,

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also inc ...

under the auspice of the Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani. The member board consists of an equal number of PYD and KNC members. The DBK sought to fill the

power vacuum In political science and political history, the term power vacuum, also known as a power void, is an analogy between a physical vacuum to the political condition "when someone in a place of power, has lost control of something and no one has r ...

left behind by the retreating

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six-D ...

in mid-2012 during the Syrian Civil War. It claimed self-governance based on Kurdish ethnicity of the population. The committee's armed wing consisted of the

People's Protection Units The People's Defense Units (YPG), (YPG) ; ar, وحدات حماية الشعب, Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat aš-Šaʽb) also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly- Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democra ...

(YPG) and

Women's Protection Units (YPJ) ar, وحدات حماية المرأة , image = File:YPJ Flag.svg , caption = Flag of the YPJ , dates = April 2013–present , commander1 = Nesrin ...

(YPJ) and was complemented with the Asayish police force. The PYD increased its influence and control within Kurdish populated regions of Northern Syria, and increasing marginalization of the Kurdish National Council led to the KNC abandoning the DBK in November 2013, and the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM), a coalition led by the PYD, declared a new administration. The new administration pursued a ''democratic confederalism'' model, moving towards a more decentralized and multi-ethnic structure.

References

Kurdish nationalism in Syria Kurdish political party alliances Politics of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Separatism in Syria Kurdish nationalist organizations Kurdish organisations Organizations based in Syria Organizations of the Syrian civil war Defunct political party alliances in Syria Organizations established in 2012 2012 establishments in Syria Organizations disestablished in 2015 Democratic Union Party (Syria) {{DFNS-stub

See also

References