The Kurdish public in Syria is divided into two rival camps whose relations, without mediation, would be heading toward a complete rupture. The United States and France are working to provide that mediation, hoping to create a unified political and administrative Kurdish body. 

Syria's Kurdish National Council (KNC/ENKS), which includes a number of Kurdish parties and representatives of youth, women and independent parties, aims to create a constitutional Kurdish national entity in Syria. The KNC is a member of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces and has a strong alliance with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraq headed by Massoud Barzani. 

The KNC’s rival on the Syrian scene is the nationalist Democratic Union Party (PYD), which has close ties with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PYD formed the self-administered area in northern Syria, which includes Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian parties. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), of which the PYD is part, is a member of the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) in northern Syria. 

But so far, the Syrian opposition has rejected any attempt by the PYD to join it because of their dispute over the future of Syria. The opposition accuses the Kurdish party of being against the Syrian revolution.