Past and Future of Kurdish Autonomy in Syria: Prospects of the Autonomy in the Time of COVID-19

This article focuses on the current COVID-19 implications for the fissure between the Syrian regime and the Kurds in Syria. It explains how the Syrian Kurds cope with COVID-19, given the region’s political status and the current state of play in the Syrian war. It sheds light on (1) the practical application of Kurdish semi-autonomy in Syria along with its successes and shortcomings in the public health sphere; and (2) how COVID-19 has affected intra-Kurdish politics in Syria and Kurdistan.Although changes in the political framework of Syria are not expected in the near future, the pandemic has underscored the fissures between the Kurds and the central government. Since the pandemic reached Syria, the Syrian government has almost completely neglected the health situation in the Kurdish territories. The Kurdish Autonomous Administration, in turn, recruited all the means at its disposal to cope independently with the crisis. These on-the-ground developments are signs for both the overt and covert, anxious hopes and strivings of the Kurds for autonomy. To assess the prospects for Kurdish autonomy, the article also analyzes the Kurds’ relationships with the states involved in the Syrian conflict and the historical landmarks of intra-Kurdish politics.