UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — What’s happening in Syria’s Kurdish regions?
Q1. With reference to the March 2025 agreement signed between Syria's interim government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), consider the following provisions:
1. Central Syrian government authority over airports, border crossings and oil fields in SDF-administered areas.
2. Formal recognition of Syrian Kurds as an integral part of Syria.
3. Recognition of Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic.
4. Establishment of a sovereign Kurdish federal republic with its own currency in north-east Syria.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as provisions of the agreement?
- Central Syrian government authority over airports, border crossings and oil fields in SDF-administered areas.
- Formal recognition of Syrian Kurds as an integral part of Syria.
- Recognition of Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic.
- Establishment of a sovereign Kurdish federal republic with its own currency in north-east Syria.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4 only
- C. 1, 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 3 and 4 only
Q2. Which one of the following constitutes the dominant Kurdish armed component within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that signed the 2025 integration agreement with Damascus?
- A. Peshmerga
- B. People's Protection Units (YPG)
- C. Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
- D. Free Syrian Army
Q3. Who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the principal signatory on its behalf of the March 2025 integration accord with Syria's interim government?
- A. Abdullah Öcalan
- B. Salih Muslim
- C. Mazloum Abdi
- D. Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani
Q4. With reference to the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), consider the following statements:
1. It is widely known as Rojava and administers areas in north and east Syria.
2. Its principal armed wing is the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
3. It has been a full member state of the League of Arab States since 2024.
4. Its post-2025 integration framework provides for Kurdish to be recognised as an official national language alongside Arabic.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- It is widely known as Rojava and administers areas in north and east Syria.
- Its principal armed wing is the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
- It has been a full member state of the League of Arab States since 2024.
- Its post-2025 integration framework provides for Kurdish to be recognised as an official national language alongside Arabic.
- A. 1 and 3 only
- B. 3 only
- C. 2 and 4 only
- D. 3 and 4 only
Q5. The interim Syrian government that signed the March 2025 integration agreement with the SDF on the future of north-east Syria is headed, in the five-year transitional period, by which one of the following?
- A. Bashar al-Assad as restored president
- B. Ahmed al-Sharaa as transitional president
- C. Mazloum Abdi as transitional president
- D. A United Nations–appointed Special Envoy as transitional administrator