ROJAVA
Rojava, which means ‘west’ in Kurdish, is the smallest part of Kurdistan. The word ‘Roj’ means ‘sun’, and ‘ava’ means ‘set’. Rojava, after Kurdistan was divided into four with the 1639 Kasr-ı Şirin and 1916 Sykes-Picot agreements, was the first piece to be glorified by a revolution that would become a glimmer of hope for the entire Middle East.
Just as the paradigm of the People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan was decisive in determining the future of the people of the region, the people of Rojava were not mere conductors of Leader Öcalan’s ideology. They had taken an active part in the formulation of the ideology since 1979, when Leader Öcalan firsts strated stepped into Rojava territory.
Leader Öcalan moved to Rojava on July 29, 1979, foreseeing the fascist 1980 military coup in Turkey. Passing through to Kobanê from the Suruç district of Urfa, Rojava became an academy of freedom, so to speak. Hundreds of youths from Rojava, hundreds of mothers and fathers sacrificed the little they had for this idea, to be able to join the ranks of freedom.
With the expansion of the Arab Spring in 2011 to Syria, the Assad regime responded with guns and bombs. The violence has caused tensions that have not yet simmered. International forces such as Turkey (Recep armed al-Qaeda) and USA (Obama armed the Free Syrian Army) attempted to take the opportunity to bring down Assad, the only Alawite leader of the region. The proceedings sparked a war which would spread across the world.
“Wherever there is a possibility, work. You will get as many results as you work.”
The Kurds cautiously approached the civil war and insisted on a democratic solution, but with the failure of this democratic maturity from the Assad regime, the PYD led the 3rd Way and People’s Councils started to be established in 2012.
When the People’s Councils increased their effectiveness, the regime applied to attacks and detentions, but the cost of this for the regime was that the people took over the People’s Councils in many cities.
THE REVOLUTION BEGINS
The arabisation policies being implemented by the assimilating Assad regime for decades had the most negative effect on the people of Kobanê . The Kobanê People’s Assembly did not miss the opportunity to stop this; they assumed the management of Kobanê on July 19, 2012. The people would take their revenge by freeing themselves from the oppressive reach of a dictator.
In the same period, People’s Defense Units (YPG) were established. YPG saved the Rojava region from the regime’s hands, from Afrin to Dêrik. Except for the several checkpoints in Hesekê and Qamişlo, there are no regime forces in Rojava territory.
The YPG had started to expand, mobilizing local resistance teams. While the castles of the regime were surrounded, all the weapons of the enemy and all places belonging to the people were taken back. Still, the regime forces that were held captive inside these castles were not mistreated.
Kobanê
After Kobanê, public administration was also taking control in Efrin, Serêkaniyê, Dirbesiyê, Amûdê, Dêrik, Girkê Legê, Tirbespiyê, Hesekê and Til Temir. Regime forces were also removed from Kurdish neighborhoods in Syria in Aleppo and Raqqa.
The gangs supported by the invading Turkish state started to attack the revolution but could not get any results. Turkey supported a group named Asifet Þimal and attacked the Qestel Cindo village in Efrîn in 2012, though these attacks were soon repressed.
Still, the attacks did not stop; the gangs passed from Aleppo to Antep (in Northern Kurdistan) and from there to Urfa, Ceylanpınar to attack Serêkaniye (in Rojava) on 11 November 2012. These attacks continued day by day, Efrîn, Aleppo, Bab and Jerablus were under attack and civilians were being slaughtered, but the revolution was protected at all costs.
ISIS-Turkish Government
In 2013, with the support of the Turkish state, ISIS would begin to attack.
The invading Turkish state would try every way to prevent the progress of the Kurds. To fight against the Kurds, ISIS and al-Nusra gangs were treated as saviors and all kinds of support was offered to them. With the control of Kobanê in the hands of the people, the Turkish President Fascist Erdogan, exposed his support for the beheading houndogs with his eager words: “Kobanê will fall any moment now.”
Instead of falling, Kobanê become a modern Stalingrad, becoming the position which determined the fate of both the western and eastern world. Kobanê was protected by the people, by YPG and YPJ, internationalists and the democratic public opinion.
Declaration of Autonomy
Representatives of the Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Armenian, Circassian and Turkmen peoples of Rojava declared the establishment of the Democratic Autonomous Government on 21 January 2014.
Democratic Autonomous Management has created 21 committees to provide management in the Rojava region: Foreign Relations, Defense, Interior, Municipalities, Finance, Community Affairs, Education, Agriculture, Health, Trade, Economy, Culture, Transport, Youth and Sports, Tourism and Environment, Religious Affairs, Women, Human Rights, Transport, Logistics, Justice and Energy.
Democratic autonomy was declared in the Cizire canton of Rojava in the first month of 2014.
The canton of Cizire, one of the three cantons of Western Kurdistan, was decided to be governed by the presidential system and 22 ministries. Rojava’s Canton of Kobanê also declared its autonomous administration a week later.
In the Kobanê Canton, it was decided to run with the chairman of the executive assembly, two assistants and 22 ministers.
After the Cizîrê and Kobani cantons of Rojava, the canton of Efrin declared the Democratic Autonomous Administration at the end of the same month.
The region, known as Şehba district in northern Syria, was declared the fourth canton. The decision was taken in 2017 at the third meeting of the Founding Assembly of the Democratic Northern Syrian Federation.
TEV-DEM
Organization and self-management gained a new dimension with the 19 July Revolution in Rojava. The organization initiated politically under the leadership of the Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM); It continued in political, economic, social, cultural, self-defense, diplomacy, education, law, women and youth and all other fields.
The People’s Defense Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel, or YPG), whose foundations were laid after the Qamişlo Massacre, were officially announced in 2011. The YPG and the YPJ, which will be established officially, have been heard all over the world from Dêrik to Hesekê, from Kobanê to Efrîn and from Şêx Meqsûd to Şengal.
In 2013, the Public Security Forces were established in Kobanê to ensure security within the city.
The Rojava Social Convention
The Legislative Assembly of the Rojava Democratic Autonomy Administration, which convened on 6 January 2014 in Amûdê, Rojava, adopted the Rojava Social Convention. The introductory part of the Social Contract consisted of the following statements:
“For the establishment of justice, freedom and democracy in an equal and ecological society without religion, language, race, belief, sect and gender discrimination; In order for democratic society components to achieve pluralistic, original and common life values together with their political-moral structure; to respect women’s rights and to take root in the rights of children and women; For defense, self-defense, freedom and respect for beliefs, we accept this contract as peoples of democratic autonomous regions, Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians (Assyria and Arami), Turkmen and Chechens. Democratic Autonomous Region Administrations; it does not accept the nation-state, military and religious state’s understanding, but also the central government and power. ”
Victory
On September 15, 2014, Kobanê, which sparked the fire of the Rojava Revolution, exhibited the most magnificent resistance of the 21st century against the extensive attacks of the enemy ISIS gangs. Kobanê was liberated after the 134th day of the war. More than 600 YPG / YPJ fighters were martyred between September 15 and January 24.
SDF Established
Eight military battalions, structuring and operating in Syria, held a meeting in 2015 to provide unity. The meeting was attended by the YPG and YPJ, the most influential military structure in Northern Syria, the Al-Senadid Forces formed by Arab tribes, the Al-Jazeera Brigade Union Force, the Syrian Arab Coalition, the Syriac Military Assembly, Ceyş El-Siwar and the Euphrates Volcano Action Room. A decision was taken to establish a roof military system. The establishment of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was announced with a press release on 15 October 2015.
The SDF rescued regions occupied by ISIS gangs in the north and east of Syria, from Hol to Şedadê, from Manbij to Tebqa and Reqa.
Civilian councils were established in Reqa, Tebqa, Manbij and Derazor provide administrative work for the region.
Woman
The Rojava Revolution also went down in history as the “women’s freedom revolution”. The revolution developed under the leadership of women in ideological and practical terms; it became a spark and a route in the world before the development of the women’s freedom revolution.
The Rojava Revolution was also the first comprehensive and practical example of the women’s libertarian, ecological, democratic society paradigm.
In Rojava, women, especially in self-defense and diplomacy, became pioneers and role models in every field.
Women opened communes and assemblies led by Yekîtiya Star (Star Union); It was organized in all areas of Rojava and strengthened its unity. This was followed by the creation of training areas and women’s academies. Women participated in the Language and Education Movement (TZP) activities; they also led the development of the Kurdish language.
Defense systems were established in Rojava, and violence against women was prevented. It played a historical role in breaking ISIS gangs.
The co-chair system was also implemented in all institutions of the administration.
North and East Syria Autonomous Administration
After the regions formed their own administration, civil and autonomous management representatives came together to establish a joint administration and interregional coordination. On September 6, 2018, the North and East Syria Autonomous Administration was established.
