World  - A Kurdish individual, Abdulbaset Sieda, has been chosen as the new chairman of the anti-Damascus Syrian National Council (SNC), which is located in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Sieda was chosen as the only candidate of the Turkish-based group during a meeting in Istanbul on Saturday.

The selection came although the majority of Syrians are Arabs and Kurds only make up less than ten percent of the population.

Sieda replaced Burhan Ghalioun who resigned following a series of deepening rifts inside the council, which has been criticized repeatedly over internal conflicts.

Sieda said the group supports the so-called Free Syrian Army in its fight against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria has been the scene of the ongoing violence since March 2011. Many people, including security forces, have lost their lives in the unrest.

The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters. But Damascus blames ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups'' for the unrest, stating that it is being orchestrated from abroad.