The city where the spark of the revolution was lit: Kobanê

2023-01-23 11:52:58


	 

	URFA - It has been 8 years since the liberation of Kobanê, where a historical struggle was waged against the darkness of ISIS. The resistance led by the Kurds, who oppose ignoring, proved that an equal, free and alternative life is possible.

	 

	After the increasing Arab nationalism in Syria in the mid-1900s, a comprehensive assimilation policy under the name of "Arab Belt" was implemented in the regions where the Kurds live intensely. All Kurdish lands under the Euphrates River were given to the Arabs under the plan adopted by the Baath regime in 1965 but put into practice in 1973. Thus, it was aimed to change the demographics in the region. In this process, 150 thousand Kurds were not given identity cards and their citizenship rights were taken away and "Kurds" were given the status of "foreign".

	 

	QAMIŞLO REBELLION

	 

	The Kurds, whose rights were ignored by the Baath regime, formed a new formation on September 20, 2003 and founded the Democratic Union Party (PYD). While the organization of the Kurds grew over time, the provocations of the regime continued. The button for a new massacre was pressed during the football match between the Arab-supported team and the Kurdish-supported team in the city of Qamishlo on March 12, 2004. In the events that broke out over racist chants, 3 Kurdish youths were killed by the regime forces. Kurds revolted in the cities of Derik, Amûdê, Hesekê, Kobanê and Afrin, especially in Qamishlo, and in some of their neighborhoods in Raqqa and Aleppo. The main demand in the protests was the return of rights that have been suppressed for years.

	 

	According to the report of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), 5,000 Kurds were arrested in these actions. At least 40 people were killed due to regime attacks and torture in prisons in some statements made afterwards.

	 

	The rebellion in question opened the door to a new era. The Kurds began to wage a more organized struggle against the regime. After the popular uprisings that started in Tunisia at the end of 2010 and spread to Syria on March 15, 2011, a new period of struggle began in Kurdish cities. The Kurds went to a new organization under the umbrella of the Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEV), the seeds of which were planted after the Qamishlo outbreak in 2004 and was established at the beginning of 2011.

	 

	THE PARADIGM OF ÖCALAN

	 

	In 2012, the establishments of the People's Defense Units (YPG) and Women's Defense Units (YPJ) were announced. Following the establishment of the YPG/YPJ, on 19 July 2012, the northern and eastern Syria city of Kobanê, and later the cities of Afrin and Derik, were taken from the Baath regime. The leaders of the resistance, which went down in history as the "Rojava Revolution", emphasized that the paradigm of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan was the light for their resistance in many statements they made afterwards, and Öcalan said: “Every living thing must protect itself. There is the 'rose theory'. Even the rose protects itself with its thorns. We need to understand this. When this situation is realized in terms of law, economy and diplomacy, the Democratic Autonomous Administration project emerges."

	 

	KOBAN AFTER THE REVOLUTION

	 

	Kobanê, where the seeds of the revolution were planted, is located 15 kilometers from the center of Suruç district of Urfa and just outside the Mürşitpınar (Kobanê) border gate. There is Gire Spi in the east of Kobanê, Minbicf in the west and Jarablus in the northwest.

	 

	After Kobanê was removed from the Baath regime, it began to be governed by the "Social Contract (Rojava Convention)" based on democratic practices and human rights. The agreement, in which the phrase "Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians and Chechens and Islam, Christian and Yazidi beliefs coexist", also allowed for a 40 percent gender quota in the management of administrative units. Kurdish, Arabic and Syriac were accepted as official languages. It was also decided to teach other languages in the region.

	 

	CANTON MANAGEMENT

	 

	Kobanê became one of the three cantons of Northern and Eastern Syria that was declared on November 12, 2013. Afterwards, legislative, executive and judicial organs began to be formed. The administration of the cantons is divided into three as the Legislative Council (Parliament), the Executive Council (Government) and the Justice Commission (Judicial). In addition to these, boards such as the Supreme Election Board and the Supreme Constitutional Court were established. The Legislative Council's duties do not include executive oversight, ratification of international treaties and conventions. The council can also authorize a member of parliament to form a government. The members of the aforementioned Supreme Constitutional Court are also determined by the parliament. War, peace and amnesty decisions, budget approval, making political and economic development plans are among the duties of the parliament. The element that determines the democratic autonomous regions and their relations with the cantonal center through law is the Legislative Council. Declaring its own democratic autonomous region in October 2015, Girê Spî accepted its autonomy in this way and became a region of the Kobanê canton.

	 

	COUNCILS AND COMMITTEES

	 

	The other element that functions under the control of the Legislative Council and implements the administrative and executive administration of the canton is the Executive Council. The co-prime minister of the Executive Council, which is responsible for the implementation of the decisions and laws of the Justice Commission and the Legislative Council, is also the co-chairperson of the canton. Municipalities and Regional Management Councils also continue their activities directly under the co-chairs. There are a total of 20 committees under the Executive Council, each of which functions like a ministry.

	 

	Representatives of the committees also act as advisors to the co-chairperson. The order of the committees is as follows: Foreign Affairs, Defense, Interior, Justice, Regional (Municipality, Population and Urban Planning), Finance, Labor and Worker Placement, Education, Agriculture, Electricity Industry and Underground Resources, Health, Trade and Economy, Martyr Families, Enlightenment and Communication, Transport, Youth and Sports, Tourism and Archeology, Religion, Women and Family, Human Rights Committee.

	 

	Local elements of the general security forces, which are affiliated to the Northern and Eastern Syria Autonomous Administration center, act under the Internal Affairs Committee of the cantons.

	 

	According to the constitution of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria, the YPG/YPJ is responsible for the security and territorial defense of the autonomous administration and cantons.

	 

	Kobanê, which became the "security port" of the peoples during the Syrian civil war, became the target of ISIS, which emerged in Iraq on September 15, 2014 and terrorized the region with its inhumane practices; however, the historical resistance in Kobanê was the beginning of the end of ISIS. The attacks of ISIS were broken on January 26, 2015. Eight years have passed since the repercussions of the resistance still continue.

	 

	THE ATTACKS OF REGIME

	 

	Xalid Berkel, who was in the Kobanê Canton Executive Council between 2014-2016, spoke about the process of the July 19 Revolution. A great assimilation policy was implemented against the Kurds during the Baath regime, Berkel said: "A dirty policy was being implemented against the Kurdish people. The Kurdish people were faced with torture and arrests both because they were Sunni and because of their identity. The regime embargoed Kobanê, whose population is 100% Kurdish; however, the people of Kobanê, with their self-sacrificing and heroic stance, failed them. When we look at the history of Kobanê, the people resisted all attacks and emerged victorious."

	 

	3rd WAY IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY

	 

	Emphasizing that the patriotic spirit is high in Kobanê, Berkel said: “When the Leader of the Kurdish people (PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan) crosses into Syria, Kobanê is the first place he stops. Later, during the rebellion process in Qamishlo in 2004, Kobanê showed its stance against the Baath regime. Not a single institution or soldier belonging to the regime has stayed in Kobanê recently. When the rebellion of the peoples started in Syria, the first spark for the Kurdish people was lit in Kobanê. In that process, our people put the 3rd Way in front of them with the Democratic Nation paradigm and offered an alternative way. The July 19 Revolution marked the beginning of the construction of the new system. Institutions were established in many fields such as defence, language, culture and education. The society was organized for the construction of the revolution.” 

	 

	Stating that after the revolution in Kobanê, all the forces that are hostile to Kurds, especially the Baath regime, opposed the self-government of the Kurds, Berkel said: They attacked Kobanê to strangle the revolution, however, all the attacks were in vain with the struggle in the spirit of the July 19 Revolution."

	 

	MA / Ömer Akın

	 

	Tomorrow: Kobanê Resistance