Kurdish Political and Civil Movements in Syria and the Question of Representation

By Dr Mohamad Hasan

Researcher with the Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit in the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

This paper presents an overview of the background and motives of the Kurdish cause in Syria, the political and civil movements that have emerged so as to express the demands of this cause, and the problematic representation within the Kurdish circles as well as in international forums, especially in relation to the current political process. The paper is based on several primary and secondary sources, including some interviews conducted by the author with a number of Syrian Kurds.