Editing Kurds (section)

===Syria===
{{Main|Kurds in Syria|Syrian Kurdistan}}
[[File:Kurdish YPG Fighters (15318975992).jpg|thumb|Kurdish [[People's Protection Units|YPG]] and [[Women's Protection Units|YPJ]] fighters in Syria]]

Kurds account for 9% of [[Syria]]'s population, a total of around 1.6&nbsp;million people.<ref name="HeritageforPeace"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazetteer.de/wg.php?x=1136895927&men=gpro&lng=en&des=gamelan&dat=200&geo=-106&srt=pnan&col=aohdqcfbeimg&geo=0|title=World Gazetteer|publisher=Gazetteer.de|access-date=2 December 2011|archive-date=12 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112075507/http://www.gazetteer.de/wg.php?x=1136895927&men=gpro&lng=en&des=gamelan&dat=200&geo=-106&srt=pnan&col=aohdqcfbeimg&geo=0|url-status=dead}}</ref> This makes them the largest ethnic minority in the country. They are mostly concentrated in the northeast and the north, but there are also significant Kurdish populations in Aleppo and Damascus. Kurds often speak Kurdish in public, unless all those present do not. According to [[Amnesty International]], Kurdish human rights activists are mistreated and persecuted.<ref>[http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=80256DD400782B8480256F63006435DB Syria: End persecution of human rights defenders and human rights activists] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013142249/http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=80256DD400782B8480256F63006435DB |date=13 October 2007 }}.</ref> No political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish or otherwise.

Techniques used to suppress the ethnic identity of Kurds in [[Syria]] include various bans on the use of the [[Kurdish language]], refusal to register children with Kurdish names, the replacement of Kurdish place names with new names in [[Arabic]], the prohibition of businesses that do not have Arabic names, the prohibition of Kurdish private schools, and the prohibition of books and other materials written in Kurdish.<ref name="Syria_Silenced_Kurds">{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Syria.htm|title=Syria: The Silenced Kurds|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/syria9812.htm Essential Background: Overview of human rights issues in Syria]. Human Rights Watch, 31 December 2004. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081110081605/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/syria9812.htm |date=10 November 2008 }}</ref> Having been denied the right to Syrian nationality, around 300,000 Kurds have been deprived of any social rights, in violation of international law.<ref>{{cite web|author=Washington, D.C.|url=http://voanews.com/english/archive/2005-09/2005-09-02-voa15.cfm?CFID=46444555&CFTOKEN=26238763|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20080914200349/http://voanews.com/english/archive/2005-09/2005-09-02-voa15.cfm?CFID=46444555&CFTOKEN=26238763|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 September 2008|title=Syria's Kurds Struggle for Rights|publisher=Voice of America|date=2 September 2005|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref><ref name="themedialine_12568">{{cite web|author=Vinsinfo|url=http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=12568|title=The Media Line|publisher=The Media Line|access-date=2 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930051627/http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=12568|archive-date=30 September 2011}}</ref> As a consequence, these Kurds are in effect trapped within Syria. In March 2011, in part to avoid further demonstrations and unrest from spreading across Syria, the Syrian government promised to tackle the issue and grant Syrian citizenship to approximately 300,000 Kurds who had been previously denied the right.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/01/3179357.htm?section=justin|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120730140051/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/01/3179357.htm?section=justin|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 July 2012|title=Syria to tackle Kurd citizenship problem – Just In (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=1 April 2011|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref>

On 12 March 2004, beginning at a stadium in [[Qamishli]] (a largely Kurdish city in northeastern Syria), clashes between Kurds and Syrians broke out and continued over a number of days. At least thirty people were killed and more than 160 injured. The unrest spread to other Kurdish towns along the northern border with Turkey, and then to [[Damascus]] and [[Aleppo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/03/19/syria8132.htm|title=Syria: Address Grievances Underlying Kurdish Unrest|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=18 March 2004|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040407211206/http://amude.net/serhildan/index.html Serhildana 12ê Adarê ya Kurdistana Suriyê]}}.</ref>

As a result of [[Syrian civil war]], since July 2012, Kurds were able to take control of large parts of Syrian Kurdistan from Andiwar in extreme northeast to Jindires in extreme northwest Syria. The Syrian Kurds started the [[Rojava Revolution]] in 2013.

Kurdish-inhabited [[Afrin Canton]] has been [[Turkish occupation of northern Syria|occupied]] by Turkish Armed Forces and [[Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army]] since the [[Turkish military operation in Afrin]] in early 2018. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people were displaced due to the Turkish intervention.<ref>"[https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Displaced-Kurds-from-Afrin-need-help-activist-says-547096 Displaced Kurds from Afrin need help, activist says]". ''The Jerusalem Post''. 26 March 2018.</ref>

In October 2019, Turkey and the [[Syrian Interim Government]] began an offensive into Kurdish-populated areas in Syria, prompting about 100,000 civilians to flee from the area fearing that Turkey would commit an [[ethnic cleansing]].<ref>{{cite news|title=IS families escape Syria camp as Turkey battles Kurds|url=https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/families-escape-syria-camp-turkey-battles-kurds-doc-1ld6ff3|access-date=14 October 2019|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=13 October 2019|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Syrian Kurds fear 'ethnic cleansing' after US troop pullout announcement|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/syria-kurdish-turkey-troop-pullout-ethnic-cleansing-fears|access-date=14 October 2019|publisher=Fox News|date=7 October 2019}}</ref>