The first concrete steps to establish the northern Syrian federation will begin with minor elections starting Friday, followed by the establishment of a parliament and an executive body (government) early next year to manage three districts and six provinces. The elections are being held in areas with concentrated American and Russian military. US forces are based east of the Euphrates River to support the Syrian Democratic Forces and fight ISIS, while a Russian military center is nestled west of the river to support the Kurdish-led People Protection Units and separate them from Turkish-backed Syrian factions north of Aleppo. Expected elections coincide with the Turkish crowds massing on southern borders and ongoing threats of resorting to force to prevent the establishment of a Kurdish region in northern Syria. Other crowds packed up against borders with Iraq in hopes of pressuring the Kurdistan region to postpone independence referendum scheduled for next Monday. The Turkish National Security Council will convene on Friday under the chairmanship of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss concrete measures, including support for a military operation in Idlib to prevent the establishment of a Kurdish passage from Aleppo’s countryside to Latakia and stretching towards the Mediterranean. In the “Northern Federal System” the elections are set for Sep 22. According to estimates put forth by the Executive Committee of the North Syrian Federation chief Fawza al-Yousef, about three million Syrians live in the three provinces—some 1.5 million are Kurds. Thousands of men and women have gone to the polls in the last few days to vote in the first elections in areas controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. In a telephone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Yousef said whether the polls being held for a town, village or neighborhood posts will be held by both males and females. The city of Raqqa, which the SDF liberated some 90 percent of from ISIS hold, will not be part of the Northern Federation. As for elections held for local administrations in Raqqa liberated areas, they are scheduled to take place on November 3.