Qamishli or Qamishlo (Arabic: القامشلي, Kurdish: Qamişlo, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܙܠܝ̈ܢ) is the de-facto administrative capital of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. It is part of the Qamişlo Canton, which forms part of the Jazira Region.
This large and bustling city sits on Turkey’s border, making it vulnerable to attacks. Its sister city Nusaybin was divorced from it when the borders were drawn and now lies in Bashur [North Kurdistan / southeastern Turkey].
Qamishlo has an airport, with flights still going to and from Damascus. It also has a train station, but trains are currently not in operation.
According to the 2004 census, Qamishli had a population of 184,231.
Important decisions followed the annual meeting of The General Administration of Agriculture and Livestock in Qamishlo.
The meeting was held on 12 September 2018 in the village of Himo. A big banner was hung in the meeting which read, Agriculture is the reason for the existence of society. The meeting went on for two days, and was attended by many members of the General Administration.
The House of Co-operatives has initiated a project of building a bakery in Girkê Legê to satisfy people's need for bread.
The university has academic departments in petroleum, petrochemical and agricultural engineering, Kurdish literature, fine arts, education and women’s studies. Its main campus is in Qamishli, a city on the border with Turkey. Subjects related to petroleum are taught at a facility in Rumeilan, 40 miles farther east in the region’s oil-producing area.
One of the power generator co-operatives in Qamishlo is Jiyan Co-operative. The generator started work a year and two months ago [September 2017]. It has more than 150 members, and the price for a share is 25,000 SYP [around £40]. The project cost 7,400,000 SYP [around £11,500]. The House of Co-operatives donated a fair amount of the cost. The generator needed other equipment in order to operate, including a tablet which cost 400,000 SYP [£620], a battery that cost 100,000 SYP [£155], some cables and other items.
Nisrîn is a co-operative society for cleaning products that was formed in Qamishlo five years ago by seven members who collaborated to serve the area of Hilaliyeh, which is far away from the market. In these times there was a lot of monopoly. Each participant contributed with 75,000 SYP. They bought cleaning products from the market, put some shelves up, and started selling them for lower prices than in the market.
A food manufacturing co-operative society called Yekbûn has been opened by some women in the Hilaliyah neighbourhood in Qamishlo. Yekbûn means "to be one".
In Rojava, the significance of the co-operative system lies in efforts to democratise all sectors of society, including the economy. For this reason, creating alternative means and avenues that allow traditionally marginalised groups such as women to actively participate and engage with the market is an essential aspect of the radical democratic model.
The two communes of Shehid Mohammed Amin and Shehid Bahuz, which include 150 families in the Sweis neighbourhood of Qamishlo, have formed an electric co-operative society called Ronak. Their objective is to solve their problems autonomously and serve their neighbourhood. The administration includes seven people, and the price is 1,000 SYP [Syrian Pounds] per amp. The electricity generator will work from 12:00 to 17:00, and from 20:00 to 00:00 on a daily basis.
There are 21 co-operative societies in Qamishlo that are embodying the ideas of communal and participatory life, creating a collective environment at work, and building solidarity among the members of society.
After the announcement of the Democratic Self Administration in 2014, institutions were organised and local councils and committees were formed which concentrated their efforts on the economic situation in the region. One of the missions of the Economic Committee was to support the agricultural, industrial and commercial projects throughout Rojava, with the aim of reaching self-sufficiency, curbing monopoly and exploitation, reducing unemployment and activating the work force, both male and female.
The year 2016 was characterised by the advance of economic projects that aimed to improve the communal economy in Rojava, especially the projects that were connected to women.
A journey into the heart of the revolution and the strategies of transition towards a social economy: the multiplication of communes and cooperatives, and experimentation with new models of social, political and economic organisation.
