Three years after Kurdish-led forces liberated the northern Syrian city of Kobane from ISIS 鈥 after a months-long siege that captured the world鈥檚 imagination 鈥 the democratic, multi-ethnic and feminist revolution in Syria鈥檚 north is facing a new assault.
Syria
Afrin invasion: Turkey attacks northern Syria鈥檚 democratic revolution 鈥 with Russian and US approval
After receiving approval from Russia, the Turkish state has launched an air strike with 69 jets, bombing the Afrin centre and Cindir锚s锚, Reco, Shera, Sh锚rawa and Mabeta districts in northern Syria, on January 20.
Academics and international human rights activists launched a petition calling upon world powers to act against Turkish aggression against Afrin, .
The umbrella organisation of political and social movements in northern Syria, Movement for Democratic Society (TEV-DEM), released a statement on recent attacks and threats by the Turkish state.
Turkey has attacked the Afrin district in northern Syria, which is part of the Northern Syria Democratic Federation that is seeking to create a new revolutionary system of 鈥渄emocratic confederalism鈥.
Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink has just spent a year with Kurdish forces in northern Syria observing the democratic and feminist revolution unfolding in the region. During her recent visit to Australia, she spoke to about her experience. Below is an edited and abridged transcript of the interview.
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Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) finally liberated Raqqa, in northern Syria, from ISIS occupation on October 17, after a battle of 135 days. In 2014, ISIS declared Raqqa its capital, which makes its defeat a decisive event.
The SDF is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious armed force made up of dozens of militias that is committed to the political project of 鈥渄emocratic confederalism鈥, the participatory democratic project associated with the Kurdish-led Rojava Revolution.
The flags of the Women鈥檚 Protection Units (YPJ) and Shengal Women's Units (YJS) were planted in the city centre of Raqqa, which had been the capital city of ISIS, on September 14.
The threat of nuclear annihilation is closer than at any time since the end of the Cold War as two heads of state use nuclear weapons as props in what looks like a fight between two adolescent boys.
On one side is a narcissistic bully, born to inherit great power and with credible reports that his personal life includes indulging in acts of sadism, whose policies in government are driven by a combination of xenophobia, ego and whim and who is threatening nuclear Armageddon if he doesn't get his way.
On the other side is North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Flanked by military commanders, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was in the nation鈥檚 second-largest city, Mosul, on July 10 to announce the city鈥檚 liberation from ISIS.
An end to the three-year-long rule by the extremely violent and authoritarian terrorist group is obviously good news for the city's residents. But it seems unlikely the group鈥檚 defeat will mean an end to their suffering, which began long before ISIS captured the city in June 2014.
Arab women have announced the foundation of 鈥淢artyr Amara Arab Women鈥檚 Battalion鈥 under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), ANF News said on July 12.
Formed in 2015, the SDF is an alliance of progressive armed groups 鈥 the largest of which are the Kurdish-based People鈥檚 Defence Units (YPG) and Women鈥檚 Defence Units (YPJ), although including a growing number of other groups聽 鈥 that is subordinate to the grassroots structures of the Democratic Federation of North Syria.
It was in the autumn of 2014, only months after Islamic State (ISIS) achieved huge territorial gains inside Syria and Iraq, committing genocidal and femicidal massacres, that a revolutionary silver lining arose from the little-known town of Kobane in Syria鈥檚 north.
Having overrun聽Mosul, Tel Afar and Sinjar in Iraq, as well as a vast expanse of territory inside Syria, ISIS prepared to launch an attack on the north of Syria, known by Kurds as Rojava.
What ISIS did not anticipate in Kobane was that it would encounter an enemy of a different kind 鈥 an organised, political community that was ready to defend itself courageously by all means necessary, and with a worldview that turns ISIS鈥檚 death ideology on its head.
Raqqa, the de facto ISIS capital in Syria, is on the verge of falling. The rapid advance of the left-wing Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) since they entered the city on June 6 contrasts with the slower advance of forces of the Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdistan governments in Mosul, the ISIS capital in Iraq, which the pro-government forces entered in February.
However, the June 18 downing of a Syrian fighter jet by a US war plane, after the former attacked SDF positions near Raqqa, is just one indication that eliminating ISIS will not end the violent multi-sided war in Syria that spawned it.
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