This week, Syria's Kurdish minority agreed to dissolve what had been their almost 14-year-long experiment in independent rule.
During the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, the Kurds consolidated their authority over a large part of northeastern Syria, and wanted to maintain that after the civil war ended. But as Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said this week, "circumstances have changed."
Kurdish fighting forces, which go by the name of the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, will now be integrated into the general Syrian military, and the oil-rich area they ruled will come under the authority of the central government.
All this means that Sweida province, home to much of Syria's Druze minority, is now the only area not to have accepted the authority of the central government.
The Druze are ethnically Arab and one of Syria's many religious minorities, making up around 3% of the populationImage: Fahd Kiwan/AP Photo/picture alliance
