Erdogan: USA – är ni med oss eller kurderna?

The Democratic Union Party (Kurdish: Partiya Yekîtiya Demokrat‎, PYD; Arabic: حزب الاتحاد الديمقراطي‎, Ḥizb Al-Ittiḥad Al-Dimuqraṭiy) is a Kurdish political party established in 2003 by Kurdish activists in northern Syria. It is a founder member of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change, it is described by the Carnegie Middle East Center as "one of the most important Kurdish opposition parties in Syria". The PYD has managed to control a number of towns in northern Syria. Chemical engineer Saleh Muslim became its chairman in 2010, and Asiyah Abdullah its co-chairwoman in June 2012.

The People's Protection Units (Kurdish: Yekîneyên Parastina Gel‎, pronounced [jɑkinæjen pɑrɑstinɑ gæl]; YPG), also known as the People's Defense Units, is the main armed service of the Kurdish Supreme Committee, the government of Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava). The YPG is primarily Kurdish, but it also recruits Arabs, Turks, and westerners. There are Assyrian/Syriac Christian units integrated into its command structure (Sutoro and Syriac Military Council). The YPG was formed by Kurdish youth in 2004 after the Syrian government crushed a rebellion in Qamişlo, killing thirty Kurds. The YPG considers itself a democratic people's army and conducts internal elections as a method of appointing officers.