Defend Rojava: Too Great to Fail

SDF forces in Rojava

By Arian Mufid:

Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria in 2011, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) had a chance to use their influence in the North of Syria, in Kurdistan. In that respect they sent out their senior members to strengthen an organisation akin to PKK. In 2011, the PYD – a PKK-aligned party founded in 2003 – established the YPG as an armed self-defence force, which was followed by the creation of the YPJ as a women’s self-defence force. These organisations all shared an ideology rooted in the revolutionary principles of the PKK. Also parallel to these organisations is the SDF founded on 10th October 2015. The SDF is allied with and supported by the United States and the international coalition. Their stated mission is to fight for the creation of a secular, democratic, and federalized Syria. The SDF is composed primarily of Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian and smaller Armenian Turkmen and Chechen forces. THE PKK’s efforts aimed to establishing a state similar to the South of Kurdistan and connect both de facto states together. This was the PKKs Grand Project and they ultimately finalised it with success. Rojava was established as a self-governing region, adopting a system similar to Switzerland’s canton model, where separate cantons hold decentralized power to govern the area. This successful movement by the PKK made Turkey worried and caused anxiety among the right wing politicians – Erdogan being one of them and the MHP party of Bahceli another. As the civil war intensified, Rojava continued to make significant progress in consolidating its self-governance and territorial control. Rojava managed to get international support from Sweden, France and the United States due to their bravery in their fight against ISIS in 2014. It is for this reason that US forces provided air cover for the fighters in Kobani; together with food, supplies and ammunition.

Rojava, located in the northwest of Syria, has a population that has nearly doubled to about 4.6 Million. The newcomers are Sunni and Shia Syrian Arabs who have fled from violence taking place in southern parts of Syria. Rojava is well known for the rich natural resources in the area of Al Omar and Conoco, holding 90% of Syrian oil and 82% of gas. Rojava is famous for its fertile land and almost 40% of Wheat agriculture islocated in the city of Al Hasaka in Rojava. They have a 400 kilometre border with Turkey. Rojava is renowned as Syria’s breadbasket and is well known for its bakeries, which occasionally distribute free bread during certain seasons. As the backbone of Syria’s economy, Rojava will plays a crucial role in the country’s financial stability.

Turkey has started three main operations since the establishment of the Rojava de facto state, the first one is Operation Euphrates Shield; from August 2016 to March 2017. This operation followed the attempted coup d’etat against the regime of Erdogan, to cover their failures and keep their forces occupied. The second WAs Operation Olive Branch, against Afrin and the surrounding area, from January 2018 to March 2018. The final attempt was Operation Peace Spring in 2019. The main aim of these operations is the objective of the destruction of the self rule of Rojava and to dismantle their administration. For that reason Turkey has employed more than 18000 soldier in these attacks. Apart from occupying Afrin and its surrounding areas with the green light of Russian and American forces, Turkey and its proxies have failed to achieve any significant success in hindering Rojava’s political and military progress. Turkey’s current economic and political situation is dire. Inflation has reached 53%. In 2019, the price of a loaf of bread was 1 lira, but by the tail end of 2024, it is nearly 20 lira. Turkey suffers most of its political problems due to justifying the war against Kurds in three parts of Kurdistan. One-third of Europe’s prisoners are held in Turkey. Since 1984, the cost of Turkey’s war efforts has amounted to nearly $450 billion.

Erdogan’s government, junta state, aims to eliminate the Kurdish presence in Rojava and dismantle the de facto state established there. Rojava’s forces are almost 180 thousand fighters including YPG,PYD and SDF. They are well experienced fighters, managing to defeat ISIS whilst detaining almost 6000 prisoners in their jails and camps. Turkey’s attitude towards Rojava is obvious to all observers including the USA. For that reason, during his previous administration, Trump sent a confidential letter to Erdogan on October 9th, 2019, in which he told him… “Let’s work out a good deal! You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy — and I will.” Despite the US warning, Turkey managed an incursion to the size of 32 Kilometre, affecting 850,000 people, including 650,000 Kurds. However, the Turkish military junta failed to achieve their goal of destroying the self-rule in Rojava.

On December 8th, 2024, with the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), supported by Turkey, came to power following a nearly bloodless advance of its forces across Syria. Turkey’s main objective was to exploit the political vacuum in Syria to launch an attack on Rojava but their dream has not materialised. Syria’s first transitional government has prepared its initial plan and made its first official visit to Saudi Arabia, not Turkey. Most of Turkiye’s alliances in Syria, including the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), understand Turkey’s true intentions in the country; which are to control the country for its own political gain, for that reason they do not like it.

What has taken place in Rojava is a revolution; it is different from most of the movements in Syria. Their revolution in Syria was not singularly a military operation against ISIS but a restructure of the identity of the Kurdish individual and the image of Kurdistan facing the whole world. Rojava is the feminist revolution against the forces of darkness. Rojava is the revolution that is connecting all parts of Kurdistan together with one ideology, which is respect for woman and the emancipation from Islamic sharia law. Rojava is a revolution dedicated to achieving justice for millions of people in the region and ensuring the equitable distribution of national income. Rojava is a revolution that seeks to abolish tribal customs and offer the Kurdish people a nation rooted in dignity and confidence. For the first time in Rojava and the broader Middle East, women play a significant role in the liberation movement. Under Rojava’s rule, autonomous women have the right to divorce and vote, reclaiming their power and agency in a society that has long denied them. The whole world, along with any freedom-loving nation should support their revolution and fan the flames of their fight against the forces of ISIS and their proxies, including Turkiye’s Deep state.

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