PYD Names Second Local Government in Kobani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD) has announced an autonomous administration in Kobani (Ayn al-Arab), about a week after doing the same in Cizire.

The president, deputies and ministers were sworn in after the declaration of the local government.  The newly named cantons of Kobani and Cizire each has 22 ministries.

In November the PYD, the dominant Kurdish group in Syria with links to Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), unilaterally declared autonomy over Kobani, Cizire and Afrin, where a local administration is to be announced late this month.

Anwar Muslim, who was in charge of making the arrangements for the establishment of the Kobane Canton and who was sworn in as its president, earlier told  Rudaw: “The legislative council has made all the necessary arrangements to announce the Kobane Canton. That was done in consultation with all political parties and prominent figures of the area.”

He said that “all factions of Kobani, including Arabs, will participate in the administration of the Kobani Canton.”

The legislative council has invited people to celebrate the establishment of the Kobani Canton in front of the PYD headquarters there. The canton is to have its own flag.

Out of the 14 political parties of the Kurdish National Council (KNC) in Syria, only the Kurdish Leftist Party and Kurdish Democratic Leftist Party are participating in the PYD cantons.

The dozen other political parties have refused to join the PYD’s declared governments, saying that the idea of establishing a transitional administration in Syrian Kurdistan came from the KNC, but that the PYD and its affiliates had acted independently and ignored their observations.

Akram Heso, a member of the general secretariat of the KNC, said that if the Syrian opposition government recognizes the Kurdish administration, then the Kurdish cantons will be ready to work with the opposition government.

The new Cizire government has chosen Amude as its administrative capital, although a constitution prepared by the PYD names the capital as Qamishli, which is currently under the control of Syrian forces.