Syria's Kurds rebuked for seeking autonomous region
Syria's Kurdish-controlled northern regions voted to seek autonomy on March 17, drawing rebukes from the Damascus government, neighboring power Turkey and Washington over a move that could complicate UN-backed peace talks.
The vote to unite three Kurdish-controlled provinces in a federal system appears aimed at creating a self-run entity within Syria, a status that Kurds have enjoyed in neighboring Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The proclamation is an open challenge to many of the sides in Syria's five-year-old civil war, as well as their international sponsors, who have mainly been battling for control of what they say must remain a unified state.
The Kurds, who enjoy US military support, have beaten back Islamic State fighters to control swathes of northern Syria, but the main Syrian Kurdish party, the PYD, has so far been excluded from peace talks that began this week in Geneva.
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Officials said at a news conference they intended to begin preparations for a federal system, including electing a joint leadership and a 31-member organizing committee which would prepare a "legal and political vision" for the system within six months.
