Sheikh Maqsud (Şêxmeqsûd) is a unique enclave within Aleppo, one of the oldest and most populous cities in Syria. Aleppo is under Syrian Government control, but the majority-Kurdish Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiya neighborhoods retain autonomy and ties to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Within the tumults of the civil war Sheikh Maqsud gained independence from Syrian Government forces, and since then its population has been organizing according to the same democratic principles as the Autonomous Administrations or North and East Syria (AANES).
Hassan Hassan is an English teacher and works with the NGO S.O.S. Afrin. He is originally from Afrin and lived almost seven years in Shehba. His family and he were displaced to North and East Syria following the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army’s December 1 offensive to seize Shehba. He talks to RIC about his memories of the SNA’s attack, mass displacement from Shehba, the travel to Tabqa, and his situation having been now twice displaced.`
Two Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh, are currently besieged by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) following the Islamist force’s unexpected advances and capture of Syria’s second-largest city from Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian Arab Army (SAA). These neighborhoods have maintained their autonomy from both the Assad government and the Islamist opposition since the start of the Syrian conflict, becoming a safe haven for those fleeing violence, persecution and violent repression elsewhere in Aleppo and Syria. In this explainer, Rojava Information Center (RIC) provides key information on the neighborhoods, their humanitarian and political significance, the previous violence they have endured, and the grave threat now facing these isolated neighborhoods.
Mekiye Hiso, a member of the Syrian Women's Assembly, said that they have once again realised the importance of women's self-defence with the revolution in North and East Syria, adding that they will focus more on organisation in Syrian cities.
A naturopathy center was founded five years ago for the population of the self-governing districts in Aleppo. The employees research their grandmothers' healing methods and the patients are satisfied.
Due to the blockade and embargo imposed by the Damascus government on the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah in Aleppo, 40 percent of businesses in the industrial zone, clothing and other sectors have closed.
The aim of the Women’s Economic Committee in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood is to support women. 13 women work in one of their projects making hand crafted and embroidered products. The project aims to involve a large number of people, especially unemployed women. Workers were trained in hand embroidery and the use of various labels.
The agricultural project that started last year in al-Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood achieved positive results in achieving an economic return for the families that adopted it, in a way that helped them expand it to include livestock breeding and launch future plans.
Despite the attacks and threats, the people of Rojava and Northern Syria continue to build their communalist social model.
