ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The semi-autonomous Kurdish enclave of north and east Syria, known as Rojava announced on Thursday it would raise the independence flag used by the Syrian opposition across the institutions under their control after the Islamist-led rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad.

 

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) "decided to raise the Syrian (independence) flag on all councils, institutions, administrations and facilities affiliated with the Autonomous Administration.”

 

The AANES described the three-starred flag as a "symbol of this new stage, as it expresses the aspirations of the Syrian people towards freedom, dignity and national unity.”

 

Following the overthrow of Assad, the independence flag was hoisted across Syria and the country's diplomatic missions abroad. 

 

The AANES was established at a conference in July 2018 in the city of Al Tabqa. This resolution was approved "with the consent of all 300 representatives who were selected from their people throughout the regions of the AANES."

The semi-autonomous Kurdish enclave is protected by local police, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), which later became part of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the US.

 

After the downfall of Assad on Sunday, SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi said they had not "made any decision to fight against” anti-government opposition forces, nor do the anti-government forces plan to fight the SDF.

The US-backed Kurdish forces currently control the bulk of northeastern and eastern regions of Syria, amounting to a quarter territory of the country. Formed in 2015, the SDF is considered the Kurdish de facto army in Syria.

 

Turkey considers the YPG, which is the backbone of the SDF, as inextricably linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), however, the YPG insists that they merely subscribe to similar ideology.

 

The PKK is an armed group that has fought for increased Kurdish rights in Turkey for decades. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara.