Category: Democracy
Democracy is one of the three main pillars of the Rojava Revolution and the stateless self-governance model of the Autonomous Administrations of North and East Syria (AANES), as well as the Kurdish freedom movement more broadly, which initiated the revolution.
Democracy here is not the same as the representative democracy model found in Western countries such as the UK, Germany and France, where one person speaks on behalf of a large number of people whose interest they do not necessarily share. This is a more radical form of democracy, which aims to build up the entire society, giving everyone the chance to participate in making decisions on issues which affect their lives.
The most basic democratic unit is the commune, or neighbourhood assembly, which meets regularly and discusses issues affecting the community. There will be a number of committees in each commune which function like working groups to focus on particular issues, such as security, agriculture or conflict resolution. There is also an autonomous women’s council in every democratic structure in the AANES. Co-chairs of different genders (and usually different ethnic or religious backgrounds) are chosen to represent the neighbourhood at the district level assembly, and from there to the city-wide assembly, and so on.
Below you can find articles with more information on the evolving democratic system of the AANES and how people are taking control of their lives and learning to work together as part of a stateless system of self-governance in North and East Syria, and southeastern Turkey.
Jinwar Women’s village newsletter February 2023
But also during the intensified war and the earthquake disaster, the daily life continues and the preparation for planting new vegetables and crops have been completed. Besides other things, beans, wheat and barley have already been planted and the women continue to bake their own delicious bread.
The education system in North East Syria
With the Rojava revolution a new education system was established in North East Syria. Today, there are not only Arabic schools in the region, but also Kurdish and Aramaic ones. Could you tell us what the school system is like? How successful is the education system and with what difficulties do you have to deal with?
Statement by ecology movements in Turkey- demands for immediate action
Immediately after the February 6 earthquake, one of the biggest in the history of Turkey, a broad meeting of Ecology Organizations in Turkey published this statement.
The growing struggle of women in Rojava
Rojava women's struggle began with Yekîtiya Star and moved to a new stage on 26 February 2016 under the name of Kongra Star. 52 women's organizations have been getting organised more efficiently under the umbrella of the Women's Assembly of North-East Syria.
A short video about the communes as an example of how radical democracy can work in North and East Syria
A short video about the communes as an example of how radical democracy can work in North and East Syria.
Rojava-U.S. Co-op Exchange
This is an edited down version of an info session and phone bank with a representative of Rojava's cooperative movement, with a short intro to Rojava and its cooperatives by Emre Şahin of the Emergency Committee for Rojava, on 10 December, 2022
Many Jineolojî activities held in 2022
JINEOLOJI has intensified the pace of its work and activities for the year 2022, when about 10,000 women and men received training, and it held about 457 seminars and lectures on the reality of women and society alike.
The Theatre Commune shares the joy and pain of people and becomes their voice
The North-East Syria Theatre Commune shares the joy and pain of the people and becomes their voice. The commune has trained 108 actors so far.
A short film about communes in North East Syria made by the Civil Diplomacy Center in North East Syria
The Center for Community Diplomacy in North and East Syria made a short film about the nature of the commune and the way it works. The goal of this video is to introduce how the community manages itself through the communes located within each neighborhood, and thanks to the communes, the people of North and East Syria are able to organize their lifes and neighborhoods. People from alle ethnicities and religions cooperate together overcoming sectarianism and racism. In this video we show the monthly meeting of the commune, which is their most important mechanism and we show the committees of health, self-defense and reconciliation in practice. We also show the meeting of the children of the communes. We hope to inspire by showing how radical democracy at grassroots-level can work.
“We don’t face male violence here,” says Zeynep Siri, who lives in Jinwar village
Zeynep Siri, one of the women who took shelter in the in Jinwar village due to the pressure and violence they faced, who has been living in the village for four years. “I have been realizing my dreams in the village. Women should stand against the slavery to free themselves. They should defend their rights,” she said.
Sports Reality in North and East Syria
The Sports Federation consists of several offices: the Office of the Joint Presidency, the Office of Individual Games, the Office of Team Games, the Football Office, the Female Sports Office, the Sports Facilities Office, and the Information Office. All regions in the North and East of Syria have all kinds of sports, such as football, basketball, volleyball, and handball, athletics, weightlifting, chess, cycling, Tae kwon do, Ping-Pong and horse-riding. Sports activities are held throughout the year. The Sports Federation organizes trainings and competitions. Sport is being exercised by people of all ages and genders.
