Kobane – after 10 years of liberation and current attacks and resistance

In the wake of the people’s uprisings against despotic regimes in North Africa and the MiddleEast, the protests against the Assad regime in Syria also began in spring 2011. The Kurds in Rojava (Western Kurdistan), who had been oppressed for decades by the nationalist policiesof the Ba’ath dictatorship, demanded both a fundamental democratisation of Syria and recognition of their political and cultural self-determination. On 19 July 2012, the people of Kobane urged the Syrian military and the state apparatus to withdraw from the city. This was the beginning of the Rojava Revolution.

Interview: “We aim to ensure that women play a part in constructing the new constitution” – Mona Youssef, Syrian Women’s Council

Mona Youssef, administrator of the Jazira Canton office of the Syrian Women’s Council spoke to RIC about the recent developments in Syria, potential avenues for change and action in the current situation, and the work of the Syrian Women’s Council therein.

Stop the Turkish bombardment on the Tişrin Dam in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) or it will collapse

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, that includes the Kurdish populated areas of Rojava, has stated that the Tişrin Dam at the Euphrates River is on the verge of collapse due to the intense attacks by Turkish military and affiliated jihadist-terorist groups. The administration emphasized that the destruction of this massive water resource in its region, with a capacity of 1.9 billion cubic meters, threatens the biological life in a long stretch of the Euphrates valley that is ecologically the most diverse landscape in that region. It has called on the international community to stand in solidarity before this major destruction takes place.

Syria’s Afrin farmers face heavy levies amid intensified SNA restrictions

For the sixth consecutive year, farmers and residents in Afrin region, Northwest Syria, face heavy royalties and restrictions from Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA). These practices have intensified during this year’s olive harvest season, targeting local agriculture, trade, and resources, which form the backbone of Afrin’s economy.