With young activists as their backbone, Kurds in Syria have formed their own opposition groups and confronted the security forces in the streets. Last October, five protesters were reportedly shot and killed at the funeral of Mashaal Tammo, a Kurdish opposition leader who many Kurds believe was assassinated by the government.

But the Kurdish activists remain divided, and so are not a full force in the drive to oust Mr. Assad. Like Syria’s Christians, many are deeply suspicious and fear that a new Sunni government will marginalize them even further. In meetings of Syrian opposition leaders, Kurdish representatives have quarreled over which rights, freedoms and powers Kurds would have — or would be denied — in a new Syria.

“The Kurds in Syria have their own problems,” said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish Iraqi member of Parliament. “They are against the Assad regime. They have been for years. They have no rights. But they are not sure about which people will come after.”

Mr. Assad has in part been able to retain support throughout the popular uprising by courting Syria’s minority groups that looked to the police state for protection. Recognizing the potential danger of a unified Kurdish opposition and a chance to exploit their divisions, Mr. Assad offered long-sought citizenship rights to tens of thousands of Kurds and invited Kurdish leaders to the negotiating table.

But Abdul Basit Sida, a Kurdish opposition leader, said that the government’s brutal response to dissent was gradually unifying Kurds against Mr. Assad, and that they were ironing out differences with Arab leaders of the opposition.