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Conflict coverage · Syria

YPG / YPJ (People's & Women's Protection Units)

Force Atlas

YPG / YPJ (People's & Women's Protection Units)

SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES (SDF) · MILITIA

Part of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)

SDF & Kurdish-led structuresActive
Assessed as of
2026-05
Confidence
moderate
  • Vigil category device · not official insignia
Identity provenance

Vigil category device — drawn from this record’s own domain, echelon and role. Not an official insignia.

In brief

The Kurdish militia core of the SDF — the YPG and its women's units, the YPJ — rooted in the PYD movement family. Türkiye considers them a PKK extension and demands their dissolution; the units reject the equation. Component and historical context.

Scope
Structure, role, lineage and links. No subordinate records published.
Subordination
Subordination confirmed
Record state
Stub

About this record

Stub — a structured placeholder meeting the public-stub threshold: name, place in the force tree, broad role, and a dated status. A full profile follows source review.

Related organisations

  • Turkish Armed Forces — northern Syria role Opposed · as of 2026-07 · high confidence

    Named separately from the umbrella it sits under because the dissolution of this formation specifically — not of the SDF — is the stated objective.

Lineage & institutional history

Formed 2011–2012

Campaigns

Campaigns naming this organisation as a participant. The campaign record owns the relationship and grades it; this list is computed.

  • Northeast integration Affected party · Since March 2025 · moderate confidence · as of 2026-07

    The dissolution of the YPG as an autonomous armed force is Türkiye's core demand and runs through the agreement's implementation rather than its text.

  • Türkiye's northern security campaign Opposing force · Since August 2016 · high confidence · as of 2026-07

    The dissolution of the YPG as an autonomous armed force is the campaign's specific objective, which is why it is named as a participant separately from the umbrella it sits under.

Key events

September 2014 – January 2015Defending forcehigh confidence

The defence of Kobani

ISIS besieges the Kurdish border town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab); YPG fighters, with US air support and Iraqi Kurdish reinforcement, hold and then break the assault by January 2015 in the caliphate's first major defeat.

January – March 2018Defending forcehigh confidence

Türkiye takes Afrin — Operation Olive Branch

Turkish forces and Turkish-backed Syrian factions take the Kurdish enclave of Afrin from the YPG; a large part of its Kurdish population is displaced, and documented abuses by the factions follow — property seizures and demographic change Kurdish organisations describe as systematic, which Türkiye denies.

Confidence: ModerateMethodologyCorrections

Assessed as of2026-05

See this force in the structure Interactive: select this record and follow what connects to it.

Related structure

4 records that this organisation names, or that name it. Every one is an explicit reference in a published record — nothing here is inferred from subject matter.

Participates in

Campaigns whose participant list names this organisation.

Named in these events

Dated events recording this organisation as a participant, with the role each event states.