Kobanî (also Kobanê, Arabic: كوباني, Classical Syriac: ܟܘܒܐܢܝ), officially Ayn al-Arab, is a city in the Kobani region of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. It lies on the border with Turkey.
Kobani was the place where the Rojava Revolution was first declared on 19 July, 2012.
In 2014, it was declared the administrative centre of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. It is in the Kobani Canton, which forms part of the Euphrates Region.
From September 2014 to January 2015, the city was under siege by Daesh [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]. Most of the city was destroyed and most of the population fled to Turkey. In 2015, the city was liberated by the People’s Protection Forces (YPG), despite most of the world expecting it to fall. Kobani is sometimes called “The Kurdish Stalingrad” because of this. Many of the refugees returned after the liberation and reconstruction began. Part of the city remains in rubble as an open air museum.
Prior to the Syrian Civil War, Kobanî was recorded as having a population of close to 45,000. The majority of inhabitants were Kurds, with Arab, Turkmen, and Armenian minorities.
The Sara Organization for the Fight Against Violence Against Women has reported 388 incidents of violence, human rights violations and crimes against women in the last 10 months in Northern and Eastern Syria.
Kurdish, Arab, Syriac, Assyrian, Armenian, and Turkmen women have achieved numerous legal, political, military, cultural, and social accomplishments in North and East Syria during the July 19 Revolution (Women's Revolution). Preparations are currently underway to draft a special social contract for women.
The Syrian Free Women’s Foundation aims to empower women by organizing vocational training courses and awareness-raising activities.
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.
As Syria navigates the aftermath of the Assad regime’s fall, international networks of academics highlight the unique, democratic, and de-colonial education model of North and East Syria's autonomous regions as a cornerstone for a transformative and inclusive future.
The Economy Committee of the Kongra Star have put many projects into practice in Kobanê Canton to promote women’s economic empowerment. 150 women have participated in the labor force thanks to these projects.
Women in Rojava improve economy Pointing out that the women have improved the economy in Rojava, Armanc Mihemed, executive of the Economy Committee of Kongra Star, said that they have achieved significant successes by realizing many projects.
Despite the simple capabilities under the capitalist economy, and the constant attacks of the occupier on the regions of northeast and Syria, the economic toil of women has bore fruit to good results during 2020, as they played a leading role in easing the economic crisis that the region suffer from.
Young people in Kobanê are ensuring the economic autonomy of their community through cooperatives being grown to feed needy people.
The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration in northeast Syria announced on Thursday the inauguration of the first foodstuff factory in the country’s northern town of Kobani.
A project called “Women’s Will (Vîna Jinan)” carried out in Kobanî provides job opportunities for women, who couldn’t go to school. Kobanî Women's Committee Spokesperson Cemila Faris spoke to NuJINHA about their project.
House of Supplies or "Vina Jin" is considered one of the most important economic projects that help women - working in the project in particular, and women employed in the city of Kobani, in northern Syria in general - to enable them economically.
