This book, by Eliza Egret and Tom Anderson, gathers together first-hand accounts of the struggles for a new society taking place in Bakur and Rojava – the parts of Kurdistan within the borders of Turkey and Syria. Kurdistan is currently divided between four countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. In each of the parts of
The economy is a social, participatory phenomenon and achieving an independent fair social economy is no less important than security, politics and diplomacy. Building a free and fair economy and achieving self-sufficiency begins with the smallest unit in society, which is a commune, and the effective participation of women as representatives of the co-operative economy.
This article is about a fund-raising campaign taken from the page on coopfunding.net. UPDATE: The fundraising campaign is now over, though there are rumours that it is still possible to donate through cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Faircoin, etc). On their Facebook page, Rojava Plan, the group has announced that they have actually raised €100,001, which is more
The DTK has set up a number of regional commissions to deal with areas such as ecology, economy, education, language, religion, culture, science, diplomacy, women and young people. We interviewed Mehmet Cengiz, Doğan Çelikbilek and Rıza Tan from the Wan (Van in Turkish) Economic Commission, which was set up by the DTK. Corporate Watch: Can
In June 2015 we visited several co-operatives in the Wan region (Van in Turkish). They were set up with the support of people from the regional Economic Commission ofthe Democratic Society Congress (DTK), the umbrella organisation which aims to achieve democratic autonomy in Bakur. The DTK sees the setting up ofco-operatives as part ofthe creation
The Kurdish region is currently undergoing a transformation. People are organising themselves in grassroots people’s assemblies and co-operatives, declaring their autonomy from the state and their wish for real democracy. Feminist and anti-capitalist ideas are flourishing. These changes are inspired by a new idea: democratic confederalism. These movements have the capacity to transform the reality of millions of people in Kurdistan, and potentially spread to the wider Middle East. Last year we visited Bakur, the part of Kurdistan within Turkey’s borders, and Rojava, the Kurdish majority autonomous region in Syria. This article examines the theory and practice of democratic confederalism in Bakur and Rojava, and goes on to discuss how we can engage in solidarity, while maintaining an honest and critical perspective.
The Democratic Economy Conference convened in 8-9 November in Wan, with the slogan ‘Let us communalize our land, water and energy; let us build a democratic and free life’. In the conference, where preparations had been under way for nearly a year, the economy of Kurdistan was analysed with respect to agriculture, trade, finance and
“If we don’t give this to the society then we’re going to be just like a company. Then we’re not working for Rojava, we’re working for ourselves.” We visited Bîstanên Rojava (Farmers of Rojava, also referred to as “the greenhouse project”) on 12th March, 2016. Our aim was to understand how the project is run,
The following article is based on my trip to Rojava in March 2016 where I interviewed Delal Afrin, Head of the Women’s Economic Committee of Kongira Star [Kongreya Star] (a women’s umbrella organisation, previously known as Yekitiya Star) and Hediye Yusuf, Co-President of Cizire Canton (now co-president of the Democratic Federation in Rojava and North
Opposed to the economy controlled by the state and corporations, the number of cooperatives where relations of production and consumption are formed without intermediaries is on the rise. Recently, these cooperatives have begun to emerge in Kurdistan, as a reflection of the operation of an economy independent from the state and corporations. Below we share the interview we carried out with one of these co-operatives, the Medya Consumers’ Cooperative (Medya Tüketim Kooperatifi), at their market in Wan.
QAMIŞLO – The economic activities of the Cizire canton continue with the opening of the largest cooperative. The United People’s Cooperative (Birleşik Halk Kooperatifi), for which 3 thousand people have registered so far, will oversee the distribution of all kinds of basic necessities from food to clothing, homeware to vegetables and fruits. The cooperative, based
Xalıd Şêxo, a manager of the Center for the Economy of Social Development in Dirbêsiyê, says “The aim of our co-operatives is to prevent internal and external powers from sowing seeds of division between the peoples.” Following the 19 July revolution in Rojava, there has not only been developments of a military nature. There are
