NEWS CENTER – After the Internationalist Commune in Rojava called for internationalist delegations, a wide variety of young activists joined the campaign. Some managed to reach their destination in Rojava, others were stopped at the Rojava border by the KDP, which finally decided to cooperate with the Turkish enemy.
A young internationalist who managed to take part in the delegation and enter Rojava is Tim Strobel. He is active in the internationalist youth movement and was in northern and eastern Syria with a delegation in the spring of this year. In the current issue of the Kurdistan Report, he reflected on his journey and impressions and made them accessible to the public.
I’m young and that’s why I dream
Tim Strobel
“Youth has nothing to lose but a world to gain. If you want to describe the revolutionary youth in North and East Syria and their work and approach in one sentence, then maybe this is it. The revolution in northern and eastern Syria has been in full swing for exactly ten years now and before that it had been under construction underground for much longer. After it erupted openly in July 2012, the revolutionary forces seized the historic opportunity to end the Assad regime’s occupation of Kobanê, Afrin, Serê Kaniyê, Qamishlo and many other cities. The history of the revolution in northern and eastern Syria, but also in Kurdistan as a whole, is the history of a social revolution in which all sections of society rebel against the occupying states and no longer accept their oppression. It is also the story of a society that rids itself of economic and political oppression and, since the paradigm shift, has replaced state administration and oppression with social organization. The struggle of the Kurdish liberation movement was and still is a struggle of the societies in Mesopotamia for their self-determined future. This fight was and still is a fight that is mainly driven by two social groups. Women and young people in particular have fought against the nation states and their oppression in recent decades and defended the achievements that were made.
From the beginning, the Kurdish liberation movement was a youth movement
While women were still underrepresented in the founding years, it was consistently young people who dealt with the state and situation of their societies and recognized the need to counter the genocidal system of Turkish nationalism with revolutionary organization. They also had the courage and determination not to stop at analysis but to advance the revolutionary struggle in practice.
This is by no means a unique selling point of the revolutionary process in Kurdistan. All over the world, women and youth have always been at the forefront of revolutionary processes and have had a decisive influence on them, be it in Russia in 1917, in the 1968 movement, around the world, since 1994 in Chiapas or today in the uprisings in Latin America and elsewhere in the world. But youth is a factor that runs like a red thread through the history of the revolution in Mesopotamia and that is unfortunately overlooked by many.
Understanding revolutionary youth and their role in the revolution
As internationalist youth from Europe, this spring we had the opportunity to visit the liberated areas of northern and eastern Syria and witness first-hand the revolution that is bringing new hope to all of us, and millions of people in the Middle East and around the world gave freedom. It was the first time for all of us to see with our own eyes the achievements of the revolution, some of which we have been working on here in Europe for years. The goal of our trip was not only to get to know the revolution better, but also to better understand the revolutionary youth and their role in the revolution. This revolution, now in its eleventh year, has brought new hope in a world in which the powerful tell of the “end of history” and in which, since the beginning of the 1990s, many revolutionary movements have given up their struggle and disappeared after the end of real socialism. And because it gives us such hope, as youth at the heart of capitalism, we must ask ourselves: what makes this movement different? Why is it capable of things that progressive movements in our home countries dare not dream of? what can we learn What do we have to learn? What things can and must we as young people learn from local youth? In order to answer these questions, or at least to find approaches to answers,
Immerse yourself in a new world
For many of us, arriving in the areas of the Revolution and the Internationalist Commune was like stepping into a new world. Although we had previously been active in Europe in the context of the Kurdish freedom movement and had gotten to know them and their working methods and ideology to varying degrees, it was something completely different again, the revolution itself and the liberated areas, of which one only ever heard in Europe hears or sees a video and to experience everyday life there.
In the run-up to our trip, the security situation was always tense. Both the attack by the Islamic State (IS) on the prison in Hesekê and the bombing of Maxmûr, Shengal and Dêrik at the beginning of February were important issues and a cause for concern for us and those around us in advance. It was all the more impressive and admirable for us to notice after arrival that the security situation on site was noticeably tense and certain security precautions had been taken, but that people went about their everyday lives in the light of these attacks or were often active because of these attacks and had participated, for example, in fighting the IS uprising in Hesekê. As we were told, the youth in particular had taken part and, to protect the town’s population, Checkpoints and checkpoints set up. And not only in Hesekê, where most of the fighting took place, but also in other smaller towns, where the youth protected their own towns and communities from possible attacks by the fleeing IS fighters. And the fact that our trip was planned further on the spot when we thought it was on the brink in view of the attacks is, in retrospect, perhaps a good example of one of the most important characteristics of this revolution, which we will remember many times on our trip to different forms: to plan further, to look further, to go on and to keep fighting – even if it looks as if the plan is on the brink. Because if the people of this region had always stopped fighting in the past decades, if the situation didn’t look 100% positive for them, the region wouldn’t be where it is today. Then social development could never have reached the level it has reached today, and the revolution in Rojava would probably never have happened.
But not only the security situation was a new situation for us. What was also new for us was the different culture and the realization that we were finally in the place that we had heard so much about and that gives us so much hope.
A space to broaden your horizons
Already in the first days of our stay it became clear to us how much this place differs from Europe and how much the place where we are staying also influences our thoughts and discussions. It was good to be outside of Europe and to talk to the comrades there about the situation in Europe. About what steps are necessary and what is currently going well or rather badly, what impact the Ukraine war that had just broken out at this point in time would have on the rest of Europe, but also on the Middle East. This has made us realize how limited our ability to analyze is often in a place where we are surrounded by news, internet and social media 24/7 and where we do not have times when we are not being bombarded with information. Having internet only once or twice a week, still being aware of what’s going on in the world but being able to form our own thoughts about it and discussing it with each other was an unexpected and valuable experience. Having the perspectives from the region itself, but also the perspectives of comrades from various other countries, present in the discussions has broadened our horizons, which often remain very limited in Europe.
Newroz in Derik
Before embarking on the aforementioned tour of North and East Syria, we had the opportunity to accompany the Newroz celebrations in Dêrik, both the bonfire the night before and the central celebration on March 21st itself.
The celebration on the previous evening was characterized above all by its very youthful character, as the Revolutionary Youth Movement (Tevgera Ciwanên Şoreşger) was very strongly present and also lit the traditional Newroz fire together. It was also mainly young people who danced and celebrated around the fire throughout the evening.
The celebration on the 21st was then more clearly attended by all social groups. Several thousand people came out of the city to celebrate the traditional New Year together. Many families came to the celebration with their own grills and tents, so during the break in the program on the stage, the smoke from hundreds of grills and the smell of the food being prepared on them dominated the scene. In addition to music, speeches were held and small plays performed. There was constant dancing in front of the stage, with not only the young but also older people who, up until ten years ago, had been unable to celebrate the New Year celebrations of their culture all their lives, or only in secret, and for whom it always meant something special, to openly celebrate Newroz and thus also to celebrate their own culture and existence as a people. The aspect of the Newroz festival as a cultural festival of resistance was also reflected in a dance group made up of displaced people from Afrin. They had to leave their homeland in 2018 as a result of the Turkish invasion and occupation and settled in the canton of Cizîrê. There they not only found each other as a community, but also kept their own Afrin-specific culture alive through dancing, which, like the people, was attacked by the Turkish army and systematically destroyed since 2018.
Educational work for young people
During the tour we visited Qamişlo, Hesekê, Raqqa, Tabqa, Kobanê, Minbic and Jinwar women’s village. In addition to visiting the various cities, the main focus was on meeting young people. Getting to know the young people in the different regions with their different stories and experiences was very special in each of the cities and made us all aware of the challenges and difficulties they had faced in the past. But it also showed the attitude with which they managed to overcome these situations and the sacrifices they had to make in order to get out of it. In Tabqa, for example, we were able to talk to young people who were themselves involved in the liberation of their city and who still take part in youth work today and ensure that drugs and, for example, the ideology of the so-called Islamic State (IS) do not spread again in the city. In order to achieve this, the work of the young women is also elementary. We had the opportunity to visit one of their centers in Tabqa, which was running a nursing training course for young women at the same time. The aim of these courses is to make women financially independent from their families in order to protect them from forced marriage and other patriarchal practices within families. The process of getting the young women into these training programs is often a challenge in itself, as one of the center’s employees told us. It often takes several family visits and a lot of patience and persuasion before families allow their daughters to participate in these programs. However, this is also considered an integral part of the work. Not only should women become more independent and self-reliant, it is also important to communicate this to the rest of society, which is sometimes characterized by very conservative worldviews, and to take them along on the path to change.
The fact that these changes are taking place and are also being accepted by large parts of society can be observed very well in Minbic, which is probably why Erdoğan named it as a target for a new invasion. Like Tabqa, Minbic is located west of the Euphrates (kurd Firat) and about 50 kilometers southwest of Kobanê. The city has always been home to many different ethnic groups. Today, Kurds, Arabs, Circassians, Turkmen, Armenians and Assyrians live together here, which is also reflected on the signs of the autonomous administration in the city, all of which are in four to five languages are. In our conversations with the young people on site, it became clear how much living out one’s own culture is an elementary part of youth work. Although all peoples of the city have their own culture and live and show it openly and describe it as an important part of their identity, the different ethnic groups support each other in living out their own culture instead of ignoring it or playing it off against one another. Before the revolution, it was often the case that the Syrian regime simply blamed one of the region’s ethnic groups for the problem in order to protect itself. This was also intended to keep the various ethnic groups in the city constantly at odds so that no resistance against the regime could form.
Today the ethnic groups tend to stick together and the diversity of the city is a factor of strength and the cooperation of the people is the only way to a future in peace. On May 24, Erdoğan announced that wanting to attack and occupy Minbic alongside Til Rifat in a new invasion, even though both regions have no border with Turkey and are outside the “30-kilometer security zone” that Erdoğan otherwise always uses as an argument for his attacks. The fact that these two regions are now in Turkey’s sights is mainly due to their important luminosity for the entire region. Minbic is the city that proves on a small scale what North and East Syria have been showing the world for ten years: democratic coexistence of the peoples in the Middle East is possible and the peoples are ready for it. Minbic also proves that the revolution is not a Kurdish nationalist project with the aim of expelling or subjugating other ethnic groups in the region, as is often propagated by the Turkish side.
Kobanê, the first place where self-government was established
Our visit to Kobanê showed us that the upcoming attacks will not be accepted by the youth of the region either. The city, which gained worldwide fame for resisting ISIS in 2014 and 2015, has a long history of resistance and was also the place where the revolution began in July 2012 and the first place where self-government was established . Because of this history, Kobanê has also become an object of hatred for the Turkish state and is repeatedly the target of threats and drone attacks. This has become part of everyday life for the population, but they are also aware of the symbolic power of Kobanê and how important the city is not only for themselves, but for the entire democratic project. In our conversations with the young people, it became clear again and again that they were ready to defend the city if Turkey attacked. They will not be put off by threats against the city, true to the motto: “We gave everything against IS, we will also give everything against the Turkish army if they dare to come here.” very seriously, we realized when we saw a video from Kobanê after our return to Germany.
There, the young women we spoke to in Kobanê stood by the local security forces at a checkpoint to prepare for a possible invasion of Turkey. True to the motto: “We gave everything against IS, we will also give everything against the Turkish army if they dare to come here.” Return to Germany saw a video from Kobanê. There, the young women we spoke to in Kobanê stood by the local security forces at a checkpoint to prepare for a possible invasion of Turkey. True to the motto: “We gave everything against IS, we will also give everything against the Turkish army if they dare to come here.” Return to Germany saw a video from Kobanê. There, the young women we spoke to in Kobanê stood by the local security forces at a checkpoint to prepare for a possible invasion of Turkey.
In Kobanê we also had the opportunity to visit the site of a drone strike that killed six members of the Revolutionary Youth in December last year. In almost every conversation we had, they were thought of and their pictures were omnipresent in the cityscape and in the centers we visited. Seeing the place for ourselves was very moving for us. And at the same time it was impressive to see the strength the young people drew and continue to draw from the memory of their killed comrades.
Understand the system we grew up in
The education we attended after the tour was also dedicated to these six fallen soldiers and held in their memory.
The education, which was a very new experience for us, as well as for the other participants, gave us the opportunity not only to learn more about the history of the revolution and in more detail, but also to shed light on the various aspects of the ideology of the revolution. For us, the education was also an opportunity to better understand the system in which we all grew up and to deal with how it manifests itself in ourselves and in our character: where we ourselves reproduce the system, be it patriarchy, state Thinking, capitalism or liberalism, which, especially among us people who grew up in Europe, had a great influence on character formation. It was valuable to discover these things in one’s character and develop the honesty
This process was extremely difficult and, at times, very painful for all who participated in the education. Recognizing where you don’t live up to your own standards, where you’re lagging behind what you really want to be, when liberalism is still such a big part of your character, is an experience that was new and often impossible in Europe. Because there the connections to the people with whom one works politically do not usually have the intensity or depth to be able to say certain things openly without starting a fight and endangering the joint organization. We also learned in education about the tradition of social resistance to the state, centralization and capitalism, and recognized
Conclusion
The delegation trip was extremely important for all of us: to get to know the revolution and its youth in a direct exchange, to have the freedom and the opportunity to analyze and question our own position and situation as well as our own approach to political work and to draw conclusions from it . To see what historic struggle we have ahead of us with the revolution in Kurdistan, what sacrifices it took to get to this point, what responsibility comes from defending it, what steps still lie ahead and what hope we have from the struggle being able and having to move has encouraged us all in our work and given us the energy to continue our work here more intensively.”
