Kurdish National Council
The Kurdish National Council (KNC, Kurdish: Encûmena Niştimanî ya Kurdî li Sûriyê, ENKS; Arabic: المجلس الوطني الكوردي al-Majlis al-Waṭaniyy Al-Kurdi) is a Syrian Kurdish political party. While the KNC had initially more international support than the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) during the early years of the Syrian civil war and a strong supporter basis among some Syrian Kurdish refugees, the overwhelming popular support the PYD enjoys has eroded support for the KNC in Syrian Kurdistan, losing almost all popular support.
Kurdish National Council Encûmena Niştimanî ya Kurdî li Sûriyê | |
|---|---|
| Arabic name | المجلس الوطني الكوردي |
| Leader | Ibrahim Biro |
| Founded | 26 October 2011 (12 years, 5 months ago) |
| Headquarters | Qamishli Erbil |
| Paramilitary wing | Rojava Peshmerga |
| Ideology | Kurdish nationalism Federalism Anti-Iran Pro-KDP |
| National affiliation | Kurdish Supreme Committee (2012–2015) National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces |
| International affiliation | Kurdistan Democratic Party |
| People's Council | 0 / 250
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| Democratic Council | 2 / 43
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Since 2012, the alleged authoritarian and Kurdish nationalist politics of the KNC has led many political parties to leave it. Over the years, its membership has shrunk and it has lost many of its supporters. Among the factions that left the KNC were the Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party in 2015, and the parties in the Kurdish National Alliance in Syria and the Syrian Yazidi Council in 2016. As a result, the KNC had only two seats left in the Syrian Democratic Council by 2017.