Kurds to announce 'democratic federal' system across controlled Syrian territories, Turkey rejects

Source: ABC

Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria are expected to declare a federal system imminently, Kurdish officials say, taking matters into their own hands after being excluded from talks in Geneva to resolve Syria's civil war.

The step aims to combine three Kurdish-led autonomous areas of northern Syria into a federal arrangement and will be sure to alarm neighbouring Turkey, which fears a growing Kurdish sway in Syria is fuelling separatism among its own minority Kurds.

A conference held in the Kurdish-controlled town of Rmeilan on Wednesday discussed a "Democratic Federal System for Rojava — Northern Syria", and ended with a decision to make the announcement at a news conference on Thursday.

Rojava is the Kurdish name for northern Syria.


Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-17/syrian-kurds-set-to-announce-federal-system-in-northern-syria/7253064