CENTRAL NEWS
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava (West in Kurdish), is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir Ez-Zor. The region gained its de facto autonomy in 2012 after a social Revolution in the context of the ongoing Rojava conflict and the wider Syrian Civil War, in which its official military force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has taken part.
While entertaining some foreign relations, the region is not officially recognized as autonomous by the government of Syria or any state except for the Catalan Parliament. The AANES has widespread support for its universal equal democratic, sustainable, autonomous pluralist, equal, and feminist policies in dialogues with other parties and organizations. Northeastern Syria is polyethnic and home to sizeable ethnic Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian populations, with smaller communities of ethnic Turkmen, Armenians, Circassians, and Yazidis.
The AANES is an officially secular polity with direct democratic ambitions based on Democratic Confederalism, an socialist ideology promoting decentralization, gender equality, environmental sustainability, social ecology and pluralistic tolerance for religious, cultural and political diversity, and that these values are mirrored in its constitution, society, and politics, stating it to be a model for a federalized Syria as a whole, rather than outright independence. Despite criticism from the Syrian Regime this the AANES has been the most democratic system in Syria, with direct open elections, universal equality, respecting human rights within the region, as well as defense of minority and religious rights within Syria.
The region has implemented a new social justice approach which emphasizes rehabilitation, empowerment and social care over retribution. The death penalty was abolished. Prisons house mostly people charged with terrorist activity related to ISIL and other extremist groups, and are a large strain on the region’s economy. The autonomous region is ruled by a coalition which bases its policy ambitions to a large extent on democratic libertarian socialist ideology of democratic confederalism and have been described as pursuing a model of economy that blends co-operative and market enterprise, through a system of local councils in minority, cultural and religious representation.
The AANES has by far the highest average salaries and standard of living throughout Syria, with salaries being twice as large as in regime controlled Syria; following the collapse of the Syrian Pound the AANES doubled salaries to maintain inflation, and allow for good wages. Independent organizations providing healthcare in the region include the Kurdish Red Crescent, the Syrian American Medical Society, the Free Burma Rangers and Doctors Without Borders.
Military forces, revolutionary militia and people’s self-defense
- YPG
The People’s Defense Units, also called People’s Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel) is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). In July 2012, the YPG had a standoff with Syrian government forces in the Kurdish city of Kobanî and the surrounding areas. After negotiations, government forces withdrew and the YPG took control of Kobanî, Amude, and Afrin. By December 2012, it had expanded to eight brigades, which were formed in Qamishlo, Kobanî, and Ras al-Ayn (Serê Kaniyê), and in the districts of Afrin, al-Malikiyah, and al-Bab.
The YPG was founded by the PYD after the 2004 Qamishli clashes, but was first active in the Syrian Civil War. There is also the Syriac Military Council (MFS), an Assyrian militia associated with the Syriac Union Party. There are also Free Syrian Army groups in the alliance such as Jaysh al-Thuwar and the Northern Democratic Brigade, tribal militias like the Arab Al-Sanadid Forces, and municipal military councils in the Shahba region, like the Manbij Military Council, the Al-Bab Military Council or the Jarablus Military Council.
- YPJ
The Women’s Protection Units or Women’s Defense Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Jin) is an all-female militia involved in the Syrian civil war. The YPJ is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces. In the Syrian civil war, the YPJ and the YPG have fought against various groups in northern Syria, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and was involved in the defense of Kobanî during the Siege of Kobanî beginning in March 2014. Dating back to the early 1990s, Öcalan had been advocating that a ‘basic responsibility’ of the Kurdish movement was to liberate women. He stated that gender equality and women’s liberation is necessary for Kurdish liberation. The PKK established its first all-female units of guerrillas in 1995, stating that in order to “break down gender roles solidified by centuries, women had to be on their own.” The YPJ adheres to the same strand of feminist ideology. Having joined the YPJ, women must spend at least a month practicing military tactics and studying the political theories of Öcalan, including Jineology. In any communal decision, regarding the YPJ/YPG or otherwise, it is required that no less than 40% of women participate.
- HXP
The Self-Defence Forces (HXP) is a territorial defense militia and the only conscript armed force in the region. HXP is locally recruited to garrison their municipal area and is under the responsibility and command of the respective regions of the NES. Occasionally, HXP units have supported the YPG, and SDF in general, during combat operations against ISIL outside their own. The formation and conscription of the HXP is legally based on the self-defense duty laws (Kurdish: Erka Xweparastinê) of the different NES regions, which has been respectively approved by the Legislative Assembly (Kurdish: Meclîsa Zagonsaz) of every canton. According to the law, the Defense Council (Kurdish: Desteya Parastin) of each canton will open a center for Self-Defense Duty (Kurdish: Navenda Erka Xweparastinê) to register and recruit for the HXP. The recruits are to be trained by the YPG at the camps. The training generally lasts for 45 days, but sometimes for 40 days or for one month. The training includes military structure and tactics, ideology and interaction with civilians.
Turkish attacks
Since 2016, Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces have occupied parts of Rojava through a series of military operations against the SDF. AANES and its SDF have stated they will defend all regions of autonomous administration from any aggressiveness. Since 2012, when the first YPG pockets appeared, Turkey had been alarmed by the presence of PKK-related forces at its southern border and grew concerned when the YPG entered into an alliance with the US-led Coalition to oppose ISIS forces in the region. The Turkish government refused to allow aid to be sent to the YPG during the Siege of Kobanî. This led to the Kurdish riots, the breakdown of the 2013–2015 peace process in July 2015 and the renewal of armed conflict between the PKK and Turkish forces.
In August 2016, the turkish fascist launched to stop the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from linking Afrin Canton (now Afrin Region) with the rest of Rojava and to capture Manbij from the SDF. During 7 months the Kurdish Freedom fighters resisted the brutal offensive of the turkish state but the turkish soldiers and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces prevented the linking of Rojava’s cantons and captured all settlements in Jarabulus previously under SDF control.The SDF handed over part of the region to the Syrian government to act as a buffer zone against Turkey. Manbij remained under SDF control.
- Operation Olive Branch, 2018
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In early 2018, the turkish fascist launched an operation alongside Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army to capture the Kurdish-majority Afrin and oust the YPG/SDF from region. Afrin Canton, a subdivision of the region, was occupied and over 100,000 civilians were displaced and relocated to Afrin Region’s Shahba Canton which remained under SDF, then joint SDF-Syrian Arab Army (SAA) control. The remaining SDF forces later launched an ongoing insurgency against the Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces.
The turkish fascist state launched an new operation against the SDF. On 9 October, the Turkish Air Force launched airstrikes on border towns. On 6 October President Donald Trump had ordered United States troops to withdraw from northeastern Syria where they had been providing support to the SDF. Journalists called the withdrawal “a serious betrayal to the Kurds” and “a catastrophic blow to US credibility as an ally and Washington’s standing on the world stage”; one journalist stated that “this was one of the worst US foreign policy disasters since the Iraq War”. Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces captured 68 settlements, including Ras al-Ayn, Tell Abyad, Suluk, Mabrouka and Manajir during the 9-day operation before a 120-hour ceasefire was announced. The operation was condemned by the international community, and human rights violations by Turkish forces were reported. An unintended consequence of the attack was that it raised the worldwide popularity and legitimacy of the northeastern Syrian administration, and several PYD and YPG representatives became internationally known to an unprecedented degree.
In all of these operations and constants attacks in the region, while the world keeps turnings its eyes from the situation and ignoring the Daesh problem, the Kurdish people continuous to resist this attacks and improve the AANES. The youth played a major role in the defence of Afrin, Serê Kaniyê and Gire Spi, hundreds of friends felt during this resistances.
Education
Under the rule of the Ba’ath Party, school education consisted of only Arabic language public schools, supplemented by Assyrian private confessional schools. In 2015, the region’s administration introduced primary education in the native language (either Kurdish or Arabic) and mandatory bilingual education (Kurdish and Arabic) for public schools, with English as a mandatory third language. According to the region’s Education Committee, in 2016/2017 “three curriculum have replaced the old one, to include teaching in three languages: Kurdish, Arabic and Syriac.” At the start of the academic year 2018–2019, the curricula in Kurdish and Arabic had been expanded to grades 1–12 and Syriac to grades 1–9. “Jineology” classes had also been introduced. In general, schools are encouraged to teach the administration’s “uptopian doctrine” which promotes diversity, democracy, and the ideas of Rêbertî.
Economy
The Jazira Region is a major wheat and cotton producer and has a considerable oil industry. The Euphrates Region suffered most destruction of the three regions and has huge challenges in reconstruction, and has recently seen some greenhouse agriculture construction. The Afrin Region has had a traditional specialization on olive oil including Aleppo soap made from it, and had drawn much industrial production from the nearby city of Aleppo due to the fighting in Aleppo city from 2012 to 2016. Price controls are managed by local committees, which can set the price of basic goods such as food and medical goods.
The main sources of revenue for the autonomous region have been presented as: 1. Public properties such as grain silos and oil and gas in the Jazira Region, 2. Local taxation and customs fees taken at the border crossings, 3. Service delivery, 4. Remittances from Iraq and Turkey, and 5. Local donations. In 2015, the autonomous administration shared information about the region’s finances where its 2014 revenue was about 3 billion Syrian Pounds (≈5.8 million USD) of which 50% was spent on “self-defense and protection”, 18% for the Jazira Canton (now Jazira Region), 8.5% for the Kobani Canton (now Euphrates Region), 8.5% for the Afrin Canton (now Afrin Region), 15% for the “Internal Committee” and any remainder was a reserve for the next year.The AANES has by far the highest average salaries and standard of living throughout Syria, with salaries being twice as large as in regime controlled Syira, following the collapse of the Syrian Pound the AANES doubled salaries to maintain inflation, and allow for good wages.
The economic program of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) presents itself as an alternative to capitalist economies. Its aim is to establish a democratic social economy, based on cooperatives, which moves society towards a more communal economy. What defines a cooperative, as compared to a privately owned business, is that it is owned by those who work in it. Cooperatives seek profit, but distribute it among the members (as they are, ideally, the owners) or use it to invest in future activities. In the case of NES, cooperatives also directly cover the needs of the local population, without commercializing their produce, and support civil organizations.
When regions of what is now NES gained autonomy from the Assad government in 2012, it inherited an economy built on agricultural monocultures. Wheat fields dominated the eastern Jazira region, and olive trees the western region of Afrin. The Assad government put little effort into developing any industry in NES – not even mills to grind the wheat – as the only economic role given to NES was to provide raw materials to the rest of the country. A majority of the cultivated land was owned by the Syrian government, and then taken over by the autonomous governing structures now known as the AANES. According to the grassroots democratic principles of the AANES, parts of this arable land was handed over to local communes who were in charge of setting up cooperatives in order to cultivate the land, diversify crops and produce, and prioritize new forms of production in order to cover the needs of the local population. This economic legacy allowed the development of agricultural cooperatives, which today make up the bulk of NES’ cooperatives. But cooperatives have also developed in other economic spheres: mostly bakeries but also textiles, dairy production, small manufacturing, and even a salt mine.
In accordance with the leading role of the women’s liberation struggle in the political project of AANES, women’s cooperatives are promoted by the cooperative bureaus which exist in every region. They are also promoted by Aboriya Jin, the economy branch of Kongra Star, the umbrella organization of the women’s movement in NES. These cooperatives are founded to create employment opportunities for women and to support their economic independence, in the framework of collective economy.
Legal system
Syrian civil laws are valid in the region if they do not conflict with the Constitution of the autonomous region. One example for amendment is personal status law, which in Syria is based on Sharia and applied by Sharia Courts, while the secular autonomous region proclaims absolute equality of women under the law, allowing civil marriage and banning forced marriage, polygamy and underage marriage. A new criminal justice approach was implemented that emphasizes restoration over retribution. The death penalty was abolished. Prisons house mostly people charged with terrorist activity related to ISIL and other extremist groups.
The justice system in the region is influenced by Abdullah Öcalan’s libertarian socialist ideology. At the local level, citizens create Peace and Consensus Committees, which make group decisions on minor criminal cases and disputes as well as in separate committees resolve issues of specific concern to women’s rights like domestic violence and marriage. At the regional level, citizens (who need not be trained jurists) are elected by the regional People’s Councils to serve on seven-member People’s Courts. At the next level are four Appeals Courts, composed of trained jurists. The court of last resort is the Regional Court, which serves the region as a whole. Separate from this system, the Constitutional Court renders decisions on compatibility of acts of government and legal proceedings with the constitution of the region (called the Social Contract).
