Category: Ecology

Ecology 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.

Although ecology is one of the main pillars of the revolution in North and East Syria, it is also sadly one of the least developed. This is due to the challenges of being at the epicentre of a global conflict and under heavy economic embargo in a desertifying region suffering immense water scarcity that has been forced into a pesticide and chemical fertiliser heavy form of monocrop agriculture for forty years. To add to these troubles, the rivers which flow through the region are controlled by hostile state of Turkey, which frequently detains water flow.

In Bakur (north Kurdistan / southeastern Turkey), ecological destruction is also used as a weapon of war. Hydroelectric megaprojects have been used to control village populations, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and literally submerging entire towns.

Below you can find articles with more information about attempts to create ecological projects in both regions, the ecological pillar of the Rojava Revolution, and the struggle against ecocide in southeastern Turkey.

Turkey is reportedly depriving hundreds of thousands of people of water

The nation has been accused of breaking its agreement to ensure a flow of 500 cubic metres per second of the Euphrates flows through to Syria.

‘A systematic programme to end agricultural production in Kurdistan’

Agricultural workers in the Kurdish-majority provinces of Turkey face obstacles in trying to reach water sources. This problem has been described as part of the government's intentional "systematic policy" by some experts.

Women in Kobane Work Communally to Overcome Drought Conditions

The women in Kobane are coming together to work on the fields and try to give life to the lands suffering from this Turkish-made drought.

Alternative ways to resist the embargo in Tell Tamer: Home gardens

As the Syrian lira continues to lose value, Syrians who have been badly affected by increasing prices of basic food products have faced food insecurity. People in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES, also known as Rojava) have increasingly been adopting alternative projects – home gardening – to support local agriculture.

Hasankeyf Submerged by a Turkish Dam

Hasankeyf, an ancient town in Turkey’s south-eastern province of Batman (Êlih) – with a history of 12,000 years of human settlement – was engulfed in 2019 by the reservoir of a controversial hydroelectric dam project.

Agriculture in a Revolution

In the beginning of the year Make Rojava Green Again visited the Leadership of Komîteya Çandinî Kantona Qamişlo (Agricultural Committee of the Council of Canton Qamişlo) and asked them some questions about their work. What is your organisational structure and work? The agricultural committee (Komîteya Çandinî) is responsible for all agriculture and animal farming in

“Green Braids” Campaign to Plant Four Million Trees in Syria’s Northeast

The Green Braids Initiative began transplanting seedlings as part of the second phase of the campaign to plant four million trees in northeast Syria.

Urban Renewal in Diyarbakır: A Tool for Gentrification and Assimilation?

Successive urban renewal projects in Diyarbakır’s (Amed’s) two strategic districts, Sur and Bağlar, might be designed to achieve hidden objectives of the Turkish state. These are the sentiments expressed by a number of urban specialists and residents, who suspect that under the discourse of ‘modernization’ and ‘economic revival’, there might be a secret agenda aimed at gentrification, assimilation and displacement of poor Kurdish citizens.

Rojava is Trying to Build a Green Society, But Turkey is Starving it of Water and Power

Almost the first sight that greets new arrivals in Rojava is endless ranks of oil derricks stretching out into the desert, hauling up tens of thousands of barrels of low-quality crude every day and leaving the surrounding soil polluted and oozing when struck with a spade. For international volunteers drawn to the Kurdish-led autonomous regions by their vision of a feminist, direct-democratic, ecological society, it can be a shocking sight.