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Recent articles by Ulrike Flader
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Recent Articles about Mashriq / Arabia / Iraq Imperialism / War

Resist Genocide Oct 14 23 by Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group

Résister au génocide Oct 14 23 by Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group

La révolution du Rojava a défendu le monde, maintenant le monde doit d... Jan 09 22 by Diverses organisations anarchistes

A ‘Revolution’ under Attack – the Alternative in midst the War in Syria

category mashriq / arabia / iraq | imperialism / war | opinion / analysis author Saturday October 04, 2014 09:32author by Ulrike Flader - movements@manchester Report this post to the editors

The most recent pictures of thousands of refugees fleeing from heavy attacks of ISIS and making their way from Syria across the border to Turkey, come from the area of Kobani – one of three cantons of the self- proclaimed Autonomy Region Rojava in Northern Syria.
rojava1.jpg

This region – which consists of three geographically disconnected enclaves along the Turkish border – strategically used the deteriorating situation to declare self-rule in July 2012 and has since been celebrated as the “Rojava Revolution” within the Kurdish Movement associated around the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The population of Rojava, which has long been a stronghold of the PKK, is predominantly made up of Kurds – both Muslim and Yezidi[1] – as well as Arabs, Christian Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmen and Chechens. The desire for some form of self-determination especially among the Kurds was triggered through decades of denial of basic citizenship rights under the Assad-regime.

This quiet revolution is, however, not a question of independence. It is not the founding of yet another nation-state. Deliberately declaring itself an autonomy region instead of a state, derived from the critique of existing nation-states with their homogenising and exclusionary principals of citizenship, centralism of government and non-democratic structures under which the Kurds in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria have suffered on the one hand and the strategies of classic national liberation movements on the other. This critique along with an alternative model of “democratic autonomy” was brought forward by the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan, and replaced the earlier struggle for independence. The concept of democratic autonomy is envisaged along the lines of libertarian thinker Murray Bookchin as a decentralised, radical democracy within or despite the given nation-states which abides by principals of equality between genders, religious- and ethnic affiliations as well as ecology[2]. In this sense, the PKK and its affiliated organisation PYD (Democratic Union Party) in Syria are promoting this model, whose fundamental principal is to achieve a unity of all different faiths and ethnic groups without assimilating them, for the whole of the Middle East.

Within the past one and a half years the outnumbered Syrian military has been expelled from most parts of the region; police, secret service, and the civil service of the old regime have been dismantled, and the legal and education system transformed. Additionally, despite the detrimental security situation, central institutions for the most radical changes have been established in three main areas: the introduction of direct self-government through communes, assurance of equal participation in all areas of decision-making for all faith and ethnic groups and the strengthening of the position of women.

Aiming at decentralizing decision-making and realizing self-rule, village- or street communes consisting of 30-150 households have been organised. These communes decide on questions regarding administration, electricity, provision of nutrition, as well as discussing and solving other social problems. They have commissions for the organisation of defence, justice, infrastructure, ecology, youth, as well as economy. Some have erected communal cooperatives, e.g. bakeries, sewing workshops or agricultural initiatives[3]. They also organise the support of the poorest of the community with basic nutrition and fuel. Delegates of the communes form together a council for 7-10 villages or a city-district, and every city has yet another city council. The city council is made up of representatives of the communes, all political parties, the organisation of the fallen fighters, the women’s organisation, and the youth organisation. All councils as well as the communes have a 40% quota for women. The decisions are to be made on basis of consensus and equal speaking-time is enforced. Besides this, a co-chairperson system has been implemented for all organisations, which means that all councils have both a female and male chairperson. All members are suggested and elected by the population. However, according to the co-president of the PYD, Salih Muslim, this radical change from dictatorship to this form of self-rule is not an easy process: “The people are learning how to govern themselves”[4].

This change in decision-making has also brought about a radical change in the legal system: the establishment of “peace and consensus committees”[5]. These committees, which originally developed as leftist Kurdish underground institutions in the cities of the Kurdish region of Syria in the 1990 and were severely repressed in the 2000s, have resumed their importance with the uprising, and have transformed into the basic structure and fundamental principal of the new legal system. The aim of these committees, which attend to all general legal questions and disputes apart from severe crimes such as murder, is to achieve a consensus between the conflicting parties and in doing so a lasting settlement. In a general assembly of all residents every commune elects the 5-9 members of its local peace and consensus committee (40% of which have to be women) according to their ability to facilitate such a consensus in discussion among between the parties. It is emphasized that these members should not be co-opted by traditional authorities, but democratically elected and in accordance with the gender-equality principal. These peace and consensus committees also exist on the district level, whose members are elected by the popular councils on that level respectively. Parallel women-only committees have been established which specifically attend cases of crimes against women, such as domestic violence, forced-marriages and multiple marriages. Cases which cannot be solved in this consensus-finding way are forwarded on to higher institutions which exist on city, regional and canton level. Courts of appeals have been established in every region and a constitutional court is concerned with the further development of the constitution which has however been framed as a “social contract”[6].

The decision to agree on a social contract instead of a constitution is the manifestation of the centrality of the multi-faith/ethnicity principal behind the concept of the democratic autonomy in Rojava. This contract, which developed out of meetings among representatives of different ethnic and belief groups, has the aim to secure safety and self-rule to all groups. All groups are to be equally present and active in decision-making on political as well as economic and social questions and their right to self-determination is to be ensured not only through self-rule on village-level, but also through the right to organise themselves autonomously on other levels. According to the report of a delegation which visited the region in May this year, the participation of Arabs an Assyrians is steadily increasing in all areas[7]. All groups are also supported in participating in the armed wing YPG or founding their own self-defence groups, as the Assyrians have done most recently.

Similarly, the empowerment of women is not only to be achieved through the presence of women in all parts of decision-making processes through the 40% quota, the co-chairperson system, woman’s legal committees, but also through the establishment of their own military wing YPJ (Women’s Defence Unit)[8]. In an interview, co-president of PYD, Asya Abdullah, argues that the movement in Syria has learned from other revolutions that the women’s question cannot be left until after the revolution. Instead, women in Rojava are playing a leading role in politics, diplomacy, social questions, in the building of a new democratic family structure as well as in self-defence[9]. According to her the self-government structures as well as the self-organisation of women are just as important as the existing independent education institutions and seminars, and the projects to enhance women’s economic independence.

This attempt for a peaceful democratic transformation in co-existence to the state, but on the premises of grassroots self-determination, pluralism and gender-equality is, unfortunately, not welcomed by all in the region. The most recent heavy attacks on the canton of Kobani by ISIS fighters indicate a greater interest in annihilating this autonomy region, which is identified with an increasing strength of the PKK in the region. The Turkish government has reacted sharply to claims made by New York Times and other media that it is, in one way or another, supporting ISIS fighters[10]. Yet the PKK sees these accusations as grounded. Such cooperation raises strong doubts on the sincerity of the government towards the peace talks which it has been holding with Öcalan over the past year. The PKK has warned that it could put an end to the ceasefire it had declared to facilitate a possible peace process[11]. For those who have made their way from all parts of Turkey to the Syrian border to protest and are organising marches and rallies in many cities across Europe, Rojava is not only the test-ground for an alternative democracy in the region, but also a bastion against ISIS.


[1] The majority of Yezidi Kurds live in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The attack of ISIS on the city of Sinjar and the massacre on its inhabitants triggered strong international attention and the decision for intervention in the US. Since then, many Yezidi Kurds were helped to flee into Rojava by the Syrian wing of PKK-guerrilla fighters (YPG).

[2]Gunes, Cengiz (2012) The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey. From Protest to Resistance. New York: Routledge; also see Biehl, Janet (2012) “Bookchin, Öcalan, and the Dialectics of Democracy”, New Compass, http://new-compass.net/articles/bookchin-%C3%B6calan-an...cracy, accessed 20.02.2012

[3] Knapp, Micheal (2014) „Die Demokratische Autonomie in Rojava. Ziel ist eine demokratische Lösung für den gesamten Mittleren Osten“, Kurdistan Report 174, http://www.kurdistan-report.de/index.php/archiv/2014/17...osten, accessed 25.09.2014

[4] Interview with Co-president of PYD, Salih Muslim, “Die Menschen lernen, sich selbst zu bestimmen“, Kurdistan Report 175, http://www.kurdistan-report.de/index.php/archiv/2014/17...immen, accessed 25.09.2014.

[5] Ayboğa, Ercan (2014) “Das neue Rechtssystem in Rojava. Der Konsens ist Entscheidend“, Kurdistan Report 175, http://www.kurdistan-report.de/index.php/archiv/2014/17...idend, accessed 25.09.2014.

[6] See “Charter of the Social Contract” of Rojava under http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/resources/rojava/ch...ract/, accessed 26.09.2014

[7] Knapp 2014.

[8] Interview with Îlham Ehmed, Representative of the Kurdish Women’s Movement in Rojava and Member of the Kurdish Highest Council: Civaka Azad (2014) “Perspektiven der Frauenbewegung in Rojava”, http://civaka-azad.org/perspektiven-der-frauenbewegung-...java/, accessed 25.09.2014

[9] Interview with Asya Abdullah Co-President of PYD: Öğünç, Pınar (2014) “Kadın özgür değilse demokrasi olmaz”, Radikal, 22.08.2013, http://www.radikal.com.tr/yazarlar/pinar_ogunc/kadin_oz...47222, accessed 25.09.2014

[10] Official summary of President Erdoğan’s speech at Assembly of the Confederation of Turkish Crafts- and Tradesmen (TESK): TCCB (2014) “We do not accept and have never accepted the notion of Islamic terrorism”, http://www.tccb.gov.tr/news/397/91043/we-do-not-accept-....html, accessed 25.09.2014; The speech refers to this article published in the New York Times on the 15.09.2014: Yeginsu, Ceylan (2014) “ISIS Draws a Steady Stream of Recruits from Turkey”, New York Times, 15.09.2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/world/europe/turkey-i....html, accessed 25.09.2014.

[11] Declaration of Cemil Bayık, Co-President of the Executive Council of the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK) see Firatnews (2014) “Bayık: We may end the cease-fire”, firatnews, 27.09.2014, http://en.firatajans.com/news/news/bayik-we-may-end-the...e.htm, accessed 27.09.2014

Verwandter Link: http://www.movements.manchester.ac.uk/the-alternative-in-syria/
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Mashriq / Arabia / Iraq | Imperialism / War | en

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interrojavaeng.png imageThe Rojava Revolution defended the world, now the world will defend the Rojava Revolution! 23:48 Wed 05 Jan by Various anarchist organisations 8 comments

Embargo, cutting off water sources and air strikes against civilians have been some of the war crimes committed by the fascist Turkish state throughout this year against the revolution in Rojava.

While facing the internal political and economic crisis, the Erdogan government has to accept the failure of the military operations in the mountains of Kurdistan, appealing to the use of chemical weapons, in the face of the resistance of the Kurdish warriors of the revolution.

The intensification of the attacks last October, the flyers launched from the aeroplanes and the recent troop movements threaten a new invasion of the autonomous territories in the North and East of Syria.

At this delicate moment, we want to reaffirm our solidarity with our revolutionary comrades and all the peoples of Rojava and condemn once more the occupation of Rojava, the multiple aggressions and war crimes of the Turkish neo-fascist state and its jihadist allies, as well as their preparations for war.

kurdistan1_3.png imageDefend Kurdistan : statement for the international delegation 04:38 Fri 18 Jun by International Delegation for Peace and Freedom 0 comments

The UCL participated in the European delegation to observe the Turkish war crimes in Iraqi Kurdistan.
This delegation is taking place at a time when Erdogan is received at the NATO summit. His formal meeting with Macron does not hide his objective, which is obviously to legitimize his illegal invasion of Iraq, and to obtain from NATO a blank check to continue his military campaign.
His pretext: to eradicate the PKK, a "terrorist organization" according to the Council of Europe's blacklist.
His strategy: to intimidate European nations, to maintain bombings, military pressure and destruction of crops in Iraqi Kurdistan, to force Mahmoud Barzani's KDP to collaborate openly with him, against its brothers and sisters in Kurdistan.
At the time of publishing this information, the conference of the delegation has been prevented by the KDP, the hotel where it is held is surrounded by the military, and our comrades have been sent back to France after interrogation by the police of the KDP, traitor to the Kurdish cause.

textDEFEND KURDISTAN Against Turkish Occupation 04:28 Fri 18 Jun by International delegation for Kurdistan 0 comments

We – nearly 150 politicians, human rights advocates, journalists, academics, members of parliaments, political activists, ecologists, and feminists from all over Europe – have been closely following the dangerous developments resulting from Turkey’s attacks on South Kurdistan (North Iraq) since the 23rd of April 2021. As a result, we have gathered in Erbil today and decided that we must speak out.

freedom_for_palestine.jpg imageFreedom for Palestine! 20:02 Fri 14 May by Anarchist-Communist Groups in Oceania 0 comments

Only solidarity between the oppressed people of Palestine and the working classes of the world can end the occupation. We call on the international anarchist movement and all working-class rebels to join us in denouncing the Israeli occupation of Palestine and supporting resistance to it.

israelexplosioningaza.jpg imageAn account on the current events in Palestine 19:50 Wed 12 May by Ilan Shalif 2 comments

Last night have shown the result of the accumulation of anger of the youth who are the main victims of the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis. There is a much increase of unemployment which brought the increase of pressure on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the multiethnic cities within Israel, as well as the intensity of police brutality in order to suppress the rallies and other mobilisations.

2644.jpg imageWe condemn the Turkish state attack and invasion of the Iraqi Kurdistan 22:46 Thu 25 Jun by Kurdish-speaking Libertarians 0 comments

The support and solidarity with innocent people can be done in different ways. It can be through launching complaints, expressing anger and frustration, protests, and demonstrations. The best kind of support and solidarity is boycotting all the goods that are made in Turkey and by Turkish companies wherever they are. Boycotting its media, universities, language colleges and stopping holiday bookings to Turkey. While Turkey has got so many interests in Iraqi Kurdistan the boycott is very effective. Turkey has hundreds of companies plus colleges, shops, factories there, and it is the main country for Kurdish holiday makers. In short Iraqi Kurdistan is one of the main market for the Turkish capitalists and the others. Boycotting Turkey and the Turkish goods can also put pressure on the Kurdistan Reginal Government, KRG, Iraq and the foreign companies to meet people’s demand.

photo5819049480962552925.jpg imageSolidarity with Rojava facing war and a global pandemic! 01:27 Sat 18 Apr by Various anarchist organizations 0 comments

COVID-19, which has quarantined an innumerable number of cities and has paralyzed entire economic sectors, has not yet stopped the continuous dirty war by Turkey and its ally Daesh against the people of the northern region of Syria, who have had to continue to defend themselves without any truce.

whatsappimage20200229at16.33.jpeg imageDAF's statement on Syria War and Refugee Crisis of the State 17:22 Tue 03 Mar by DAF 0 comments

The long-awaited developments began to happen In Idlib where is the last point of the war and also the last point of the djihadist gangs supported by TAF were stucked. The troops of the TAF were attacked by aerial strike on the night of 27 February to 28 -shortly before the “ultimatum” that T.C gave to the Syrian Army to withdraw from the places it took in Idlip- According to official figures, 34 soldiers died as a result of this airstrike, It was carried out by Syria according to T.C sources.

boycottturkey1024x551.png imageOur solidarity outside of Turkey and Syria is continual boycott of the Turkish Products and Tourism 19:16 Tue 22 Oct by KAF 0 comments

We are against the war, but we support and defending people against the attacks that they face. We offer our solidarity towards those facing invasion and repression.

human_shields_assembled_at_the_serekaniye_border_before_the_invasion._photo__anf_english.jpg imageSolidarity With People In Rojava, Denouncing Turkish State And United States Allies 02:00 Fri 11 Oct by KAF 0 comments


There is no doubt ignoring the experiences of history will lead to the same experiences being repeated. What is happening at the moment in Rojava proves this statement.

more >>

imageThe struggle for Palestine Jul 14 by Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group 0 comments

The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group’s solution to the oppression of the Palestinians is the same as for oppression everywhere. The problems of capitalism can only be solved by workers’ revolution.In Palestine, that means defeating Zionism and replacing it with the No State Solution, a society of libertarian communism that operates on the basis of consistent federalism.

imageRojava after Rojava Dec 27 by Fouâd Oveisy 0 comments

Turkey’s attack on Rojava forced the SDF to choose between its own survival and protecting Kurdish territories, putting the future of the revolution at risk.

imageRequiem for Rojava Dec 21 by Khaled Aboud 0 comments

The announcement of Trump that the US would immediately stop aerial bombardments and withdraw their diplomatic personnel, while their troops would all withdraw within 3 months, officially signalled the end of the Syrian war, a war which has been portrayed as a “civil war” but one in which all of the world participated. While major powers, such as Russia, France, the UK, and the US, and regional powers such as Iran, Israel and Turkey participated directly, they had their Syrian proxies to fight against one another. The conflict, in the first place, wouldn’t have erupted without the decisive funding and support given by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey and Jordan to a frightful collection of armed jihadist lunatics.

imageThe Saudi-Kurdish love affair Dec 07 by Khaled Aboud 0 comments

As everyone watches in horror and disbelief the unparalleled Saudi atrocities in Yemen and the unspeakable barbaric assassination of the journalist Jamal Kashoggi, the Saudi royals are increasingly isolated in the world. However, in the Middle East, they have made new friends: the Kurdish of Syria.

imageThe battle of Idlib Province in Syria is decisive and crucial for the future of Rojava Sep 08 by Zaher Baher 0 comments

This article is a brief analysing of the future of Rojava in Syria in Line with the attack of Assad’s forces on Idlib’s Province . The battle of Idlib can be a crucial one for all sides who are involve especially for the regime and the Kurdish in Rojava . There are few scenarios that the Kurdish forces there and its self rule administration are facing . There is also a strong possibility after this battle the Kurdish question there can be on the top of Assad and Russia’s agenda to be resolved either way.

more >>

imageThe Rojava Revolution defended the world, now the world will defend the Rojava Revolution! Jan 05 8 comments

Embargo, cutting off water sources and air strikes against civilians have been some of the war crimes committed by the fascist Turkish state throughout this year against the revolution in Rojava.

While facing the internal political and economic crisis, the Erdogan government has to accept the failure of the military operations in the mountains of Kurdistan, appealing to the use of chemical weapons, in the face of the resistance of the Kurdish warriors of the revolution.

The intensification of the attacks last October, the flyers launched from the aeroplanes and the recent troop movements threaten a new invasion of the autonomous territories in the North and East of Syria.

At this delicate moment, we want to reaffirm our solidarity with our revolutionary comrades and all the peoples of Rojava and condemn once more the occupation of Rojava, the multiple aggressions and war crimes of the Turkish neo-fascist state and its jihadist allies, as well as their preparations for war.

imageDefend Kurdistan : statement for the international delegation Jun 18 0 comments

The UCL participated in the European delegation to observe the Turkish war crimes in Iraqi Kurdistan.
This delegation is taking place at a time when Erdogan is received at the NATO summit. His formal meeting with Macron does not hide his objective, which is obviously to legitimize his illegal invasion of Iraq, and to obtain from NATO a blank check to continue his military campaign.
His pretext: to eradicate the PKK, a "terrorist organization" according to the Council of Europe's blacklist.
His strategy: to intimidate European nations, to maintain bombings, military pressure and destruction of crops in Iraqi Kurdistan, to force Mahmoud Barzani's KDP to collaborate openly with him, against its brothers and sisters in Kurdistan.
At the time of publishing this information, the conference of the delegation has been prevented by the KDP, the hotel where it is held is surrounded by the military, and our comrades have been sent back to France after interrogation by the police of the KDP, traitor to the Kurdish cause.

textDEFEND KURDISTAN Against Turkish Occupation Jun 18 0 comments

We – nearly 150 politicians, human rights advocates, journalists, academics, members of parliaments, political activists, ecologists, and feminists from all over Europe – have been closely following the dangerous developments resulting from Turkey’s attacks on South Kurdistan (North Iraq) since the 23rd of April 2021. As a result, we have gathered in Erbil today and decided that we must speak out.

imageFreedom for Palestine! May 14 0 comments

Only solidarity between the oppressed people of Palestine and the working classes of the world can end the occupation. We call on the international anarchist movement and all working-class rebels to join us in denouncing the Israeli occupation of Palestine and supporting resistance to it.

imageWe condemn the Turkish state attack and invasion of the Iraqi Kurdistan Jun 25 0 comments

The support and solidarity with innocent people can be done in different ways. It can be through launching complaints, expressing anger and frustration, protests, and demonstrations. The best kind of support and solidarity is boycotting all the goods that are made in Turkey and by Turkish companies wherever they are. Boycotting its media, universities, language colleges and stopping holiday bookings to Turkey. While Turkey has got so many interests in Iraqi Kurdistan the boycott is very effective. Turkey has hundreds of companies plus colleges, shops, factories there, and it is the main country for Kurdish holiday makers. In short Iraqi Kurdistan is one of the main market for the Turkish capitalists and the others. Boycotting Turkey and the Turkish goods can also put pressure on the Kurdistan Reginal Government, KRG, Iraq and the foreign companies to meet people’s demand.

more >>
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