Syrian Kurds are surrounded on all sides by conflicting forces, but their internal division has also held them back. Could they finally be ready to unite their efforts to build a workable autonomy?

Kurds have long borne the weight of the Syrian civil war, which this month entered its ninth year. Kurdish cities are home to several militias and military factions, in addition to the Syrian regime and opposition factions backed by Turkey. The Russian army is also deployed in specific Kurdish areas, while the US military has set up its own bases. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab alliance, partnered with the international coalition in the fight against terrorism.

Meanwhile, in light of mounting Turkish pressure to establish a safe zone, the United States implemented a partial withdrawal in October. A few days later, Turkey launched its Operation Peace Spring from Ras al-Ain to Tell Abyad in northern Syria. But in November, US forces redeployed to protect oil wells in the region extending from Rumailan and al-Malikiyah to Deir ez-Zor.

Following the offensives of Syrian opposition military factions and Turkish military operations such as Operation Olive Branch in 2018 and last year's Peace Spring, Kurds ended up losing swaths of land. Hundreds of thousands of citizens were displaced from Kurdish areas. Millions of Syrian Kurds fled to other Kurdish regions, Turkey and Europe. Thousands of them lost their lives in battle, especially against the Islamic State.