Syrian Kurdistan drops Rojava word in its draft constitution

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--The founding members of the self-declared Kurdish enclave in northern Syria have dropped the word Rojava -- a Kurdish word for Western Kurdistan -- from the official name of the federation of northern Syria.

The ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the main group in Syria’s Kurdistan and rules over an area also known as Rojava, and a number of other parties in northern Syria have discussed the draft constitution of the federation for the second day on Wednesday in a meeting held in the Kurdish city of Rmelan, the Kurdish Hawar News Agency reported. 

The official name, which received the majority of the votes, is the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria.

Rojava officials are saying that it is a move to include other ethnic and religious components in northern Syria.

Kurdish authorities declared in mid-March the Democratic Federal System of Rojava-Northern Syria, a federal entity within Syria which was declared unlawful by the Syrian regime. 

The federation includes three predominantly Kurdish territories, namely the cantons of Kobane, Cizre, and Afrin.