Syria’s Kurds have incorporated a mixed town they captured from the Islamic State group into territory they claim in the country’s north, a leading party said on Wednesday.
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A local leadership council, including representatives of Tel Abyad’s Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen and Armenian communities, met to declare the town part of the system of autonomous self government established by the Kurds, according to two officials who attended the meeting.
The new administrative province, or canton, is the fourth declared by the Kurdish administration in northern Syria. They refer to their overall autonomous region as Rojava, meaning “west” in Kurdish.
The accession of captured towns into the Kurdish-governed region is likely to prove hugely controversial with Turkey, particularly as Tel Abyad is not far from the border. The expulsion dealt a major blow to the IS group’s abilities, cutting off a vital supply line to its self-proclaimed capital, Raqqa and depriving it of a strategic avenue for cross-border smuggling. Amnesty global accused the Kurdish authorities of intentionally displacing thousands of Arab residents later, a few in retaliation for perceived support to IS – charges that the Kurds denied.
In June, Kurdish forces and their Arab rebel allies expelled IS from Tal Abyad, in Syria’s northern Raqa province, after fierce clashes.
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“It strengthens our ties to Kobani and with the other cantons that also implement the programme of the autonomous administration”, he said by phone.
