Things are changing in northeastern Syria’s Kurdish-majority Hassake province. Gradually, the swoops and curves of Arabic script on storefronts and street signs are being replaced with the Latin characters that Syria’s Kurds write their own language in — an act that was illegal just a few months ago. So too are the soldiers of the Damascus regime being replaced with Kurdish militiamen and the reins of governance taken up by the local groups. See also: The Kurdish Triangle State power has deteriorated in Syrian Kurdish areas as the country’s civil war drags on and the government of President Bashar al-Assad struggles to limit the gains of the rebel Free Syrian Army in major population centers. And over the summer, Kurdish groups seized the opportunity. Syria’s Kurds make up a little less than 10 percent of the country’s population of 20 million and after decades of neglect and subjugation under the
Josh Wood is a journalist based in Boston. He was previously based in Beirut, where he was a correspondent for The National. His work focuses on refugees, US foreign policy and conflicts in the Middle East.
