Nuri Mahmoud (born 13 August 1977, Syria) is a former politician of the

Kurdish National Council The Kurdish National Council in Syria (KNCS, , ENKS; ) or Kurdish National Council (KNC) is a Kurds in Syria, Syrian Kurdish political party. While the KNC had initially more international support than the ruling Democratic Union Party (Syria), ...

(ENKS) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) and current military officer and speaker of the Peoples' Defense Units (YPG).

Early life and education

He was born to a

Syrian Kurdish The Kurdish population of Syria is the country's largest ethnic minority, usually estimated at around 10% of the Syrian population Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, constituting around 10 per cent of the population – around 2 m ...

family in

Qamishli Qamishli is a city in northeastern Syria on the Syria–Turkey border, adjoining the city of Nusaybin in Turkey. The Jaghjagh River flows through the city. With a 2004 census population of 184,231, it is the List of cities in Syria, ninth most-po ...

in August 1977. He attended high school where he was politically active. Therefore, he was not permitted to study further in Syria following which he emigrated to the

Kurdistan Region of Iraq Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous federal region of the Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurdish-majority governorates of Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Duhok Governorate, and Halabja Governora ...

. There he worked for the Kurdish National Council ( ENKS) between 2007 and 2011. Between 2012 and 2013, he served as a member of the executive committee of the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

Political and military career

In 2013 he was appointed to the position of an advisor in the process of establishing a legislative council and a judiciary by the civic council of

Kobanî Kobani, also Kobane, officially Ayn al-Arab, is a Kurdish-majority city in the Ayn al-Arab District in northern Syria, lying immediately south of the Syria–Turkey border. As a consequence of the Syrian civil war, the city came under the co ...

. Following he held several positions in the

Kobanî Canton Euphrates Region, formerly Kobanî Canton, (; ; ) is the central of three original regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, comprising Ayn al-Arab District of the Aleppo Governorate, Tell Abyad District of the Raqqa G ...

until 2015. From 2015 and 2017, Mahmoud served as the director of the Semalka border crossing between the Kurdistan Region in Iraq and Syria. In 2017 he was appointed as the speaker of the YPG and in 2020 also as a commander of the headquarters of the

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

(SDF). As the spokesperson of the YPG and in support of a

UN resolution A United Nations resolution (UN resolution) is a formal text adopted by a United Nations (UN) body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly, in the f ...

, he stressed that the YPG would hold a ceasefire of 30 days during the Turkish invasion of Afrin in February 2018. In June 2020, he offered an apology to the ENKS for the deaths caused by the forces of the YPG. In 2022, he voiced concern over an eventual Turkish attack onto Northern Syria.

Foreign relations

In March 2023, he visited the

French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

within a delegation of the

Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), also known as Rojava, is a ''de facto'' Autonomous administrative division, autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing Regions of North and E ...

(AANES) where met with its vice-president Pierre Laurent. Mahmoud was also honored by the French Senate for his service during the fight against the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuri Mahmoud 1977 births Living people Democratic Union Party (Syria) politicians Syrian Democratic Forces People's Defense Units