Who are the Kurds?

"The Kurds are widely believed to be the largest stateless ethnic group in the world. As part of its plan to unify the country following 14 years of brutal civil war, Syria's government announced it had reached a ceasefire agreement with the secular-led, Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Sunday. Under the agreement, the government will take over land held by the Kurdish armed group."

"President Ahmed al-Sharaa said the Syrian Army would take control of three eastern and northeastern provinces Raqqa, Deir Az Zor and Hasakah from the SDF as part of the deal. On Monday, an official from Syria's Defence Ministry said government-affiliated forces had arrived on the outskirts of the Kurdish-led city of Hasakah in the country's northeast per this agreement. The SDF is now to be integrated into Syria's defence and interior ministries as part of a broader 14-point agreement."

"Al-Sharaa's government pledged to reunify Syria following the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. On Friday, al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a national language and granting the minority group official recognition. What [we] are witnessing now in the region is the end of the SDF, Omar Abu Layla, a Syrian affairs analyst, told Al Jazeera. The SDF in Syria represents the struggle of the Kurdish people, an ethnic group present across the Middle East."

Kurds are widely believed to be the largest stateless ethnic group, indigenous to Mesopotamian plains and highlands spanning southeastern Turkiye, northeastern Syria, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran and southwestern Armenia. Syria's government agreed a ceasefire with the secular-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and plans to take over land held by the Kurdish armed group while integrating the SDF into defence and interior ministries under a 14-point agreement. The Syrian Army was announced to assume control of Raqqa, Deir Az Zor and Hasakah, with government-affiliated forces appearing on Hasakah's outskirts amid reported ongoing gun battles around an ISIL prison in al-Shadadi. The government issued a decree declaring Kurdish a national language and granting official recognition to the minority.

Read at www.aljazeera.com