Multiple Kurdish factions have agreed in principle to create a “transitional” government for Western Kurdistan, covering northeastern Syria, to rule autonomously for the duration of the Syrian Civil War.

The plan had been raised before, but seems practical now as Kurdish militias have ousted al-Qaeda from much of their territory, and have virtually de facto control over the region.

Not everyone is on board, however, as the Kurdish National Council (KNC), a faction closely affiliated with the rebel Syrian National Coalition (SNC), has called the move an “obstacle” to the broader rebellion, and one which threatens to alienate the rebels.

Yet the Kurds aren’t by and large involved in the civil war itself, and are instead finding themselves trying to keep foreign Islamists from overrunning their towns with no help from either the Assad government or moderate rebels, leaving the region as a practical matter independent.