(Video) Syria’s new power map: Inside the SDF–Damascus deal (plus global intellectuals call to defend Rojava’s democratic experiment)
First published at The Amargi.
For the first time in history, the commander who defeated ISIS in Kobani is sitting at the table with world leaders in Munich — not as a militia chief, but as a political actor shaping Syria’s future. At the margins of the Munich Security Conference, The Amargi’s Editor-in-Chief Kamal Chomani sat down with General Mazloum Abdi, Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
In this exclusive interview, Abdi discusses: why the international community’s stance toward Rojava has changed, the details behind the January 29 agreement with Damascus, whether the U.S. betrayed the Kurds, the role of Abdullah Öcalan in reaching a ceasefire, France’s diplomatic involvement and President Macron’s direct role, the future integration of the SDF into the Syrian army, and Kurdish unity and representation in Syria’s new political order.
From war with the Syrian army just weeks ago to joint diplomacy in Europe — this conversation reveals how fast Syria’s political map is shifting.
Renowned global intellectuals call to defend Rojava’s democratic experiment
First published at The Amargi.
A group of prominent world intellectuals, academics, activists and public figures have issued a joint statement urging governments and civil society to defend Rojava, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), warning that the region’s democratic and feminist experiment faces “grave danger.”
In a statement titled “Defend Rojava: We Stand with North-East Syria’s Democratic, Feminist Revolution”, the signatories describe Rojava as “a living example for how a multiethnic society can exist peacefully in a country torn by sectarian violence, religious fundamentalism and colonial devastation.”
For nearly 14 years, the region has pursued a system rooted in democratic confederalism, women’s leadership, minority rights, ecological values, worker-run cooperatives and restorative justice. According to the statement, this political project – often referred to as the Rojava revolution – has offered a rare alternative model in a war-torn Middle East.
However, the signatories warn that recent developments threaten to dismantle those achievements. Following the breakdown of negotiations between the Syrian transitional government and DAANES, Syrian military operations in Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Aleppo reportedly led to mass displacement and civilian casualties. The statement further alleges that advances in northeast Syria were supported by Turkish drones and allied armed groups, resulting in severe human rights violations.
The authors argue that Western governments bear responsibility for enabling these developments, citing diplomatic engagements and financial pledges to Damascus while civilian suffering in Kurdish areas continues. They also raise concerns about the ongoing siege of Kobane and the fragility of the January 30 ceasefire agreement.
Framing the issue beyond regional politics, the statement asserts that the Rojava experiment represents a broader struggle over democratic alternatives in a time of rising authoritarianism, misogyny and ecological crisis. “If we fail to stand with them now, history will remember our silence,” the text concludes.
Among the signatories are internationally recognized figures such as Slavoj Žižek, professor of philosophy at the European Graduate School; Silvia Federici, professor emerita at Hofstra University; David Wengrow, professor at University College London; George Monbiot, journalist and environmental activist; V (formerly Eve Ensler), playwright and activist; and David Adler, general coordinator of Progressive International, alongside dozens of other academics and activists from universities and movements across Europe, North America and Latin America.
The signatories call on democratic governments to legally and politically recognize DAANES, condemn attacks on northeast Syria, insist on constitutional recognition of Kurdish rights and self-government, and pressure Turkey to end the siege on Kobane.
Defend Rojava: We stand with north-east Syria’s democratic, feminist revolution
For nearly 14 years, an unlikely societal experiment in North-East Syria has shown how a multiethnic society can coexist amid one of the world’s most devastating wars. Today, following Western betrayal and Syrian government advances, that project faces grave danger. The world must stand with them.
In the midst of the immense suffering of the Syrian war, the people of north-east Syria built a remarkable political project rooted in bottom-up democratic confederalism, women’s leadership, minority rights, restorative justice, worker’s run cooperatives and ecological values. Through councils and assemblies and guided by one of the world’s most progressive constitutions, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) has offered a living example for how a multiethnic society can exist peacefully in a country torn by sectarian violence, religious fundamentalism and colonial devastation. Although imperfect, DAANES – otherwise known as Rojava — embodies a rare and crucial vision of collective liberation for the people of Syria and possibly the wider region.
Unsurprisingly, the people of Rojava needed to defend their revolution against reckless persecution from the very beginning. In 2014, the female Kurdish fighters resisting the deadly onslaught of Da’esh (“ISIL”) in the besieged town of Kobane became a worldwide icon in the fight against fascism. Rojava’s heroic resistance, at a huge human cost, was vital for defeating Da’esh in 2019.
Right now, however, both this victory and the achievements of the Rojava revolution are being undone while the world looks away.
The breakdown of negotiations between the Syrian transitional government (STG) and DAANES at the end of last year was followed by Syrian army attacks on majority-Kurdish civilian neighbourhoods in Aleppo starting on January 6. At least 150,000 civilians were forcibly displaced while some reports claim casualty figures as high as 1200 people. Consequent STG military advances on north-east Syria, aided by Turkish drones and mercenaries, involved severe violations against civilians including massacres, beheadings, disappearances, arbitrary arrests, sexual violence, desecration of deceased bodies, attacks on civilian infrastructure and blocking food, water and fuel from Kobane, according to human rights organisations and local monitors. To prevent genocide against local populations, DAANES leaders agreed to far-reaching concessions in a January 30 ceasefire agreement with Damascus that leaves the future of its autonomy and self-government structures hanging in the balance. Yet despite the ceasefire, attacks on Rojava’s local communities have continued, as has the deadly siege of Kobane, highlighting the risks of more widespread violence.
We must not forget the continuities between the Syrian transitional government, Da’esh, al-Qaeda and similar groups. President al-Sharaa himself was an al-Qaeda leader who has never apologized for his atrocious actions, but instead continued them as Syria’s leader. Under his watch, thousands of civilians have been killed, including under torture and in massacres reminiscent of Da’esh. Yet, Western governments are enthusiastically backing al-Sharaa who has shown extensive willingness to open up Syria’s resources to Western corporations.
The recent military advances by Syrian government forces in north-east Syria would not have been possible without Western support. The fact that, on the day that the STG began its
operation in Aleppo, the United States facilitated a mutual understanding between the al-Sharaa government and Israel, points towards shifts in priority. A few days later, EU leaders Von der Leyen and Costa met with al-Sharaa in Damascus and pledged substantial financial support for reconstruction and stabilisation, while voicing little concern for civilian suffering in Aleppo.
International coverage of these events has been uneven and sometimes included anti-Rojava misinformation, undermining the possibility of solidarity across different anti-colonial struggles.
This is hardly a coincidence. The Rojava revolution poses an existential threat to all those upholding capitalism, patriarchy and nationalism by showing how millions of people can live together well outside these violent systems. As much as capitalist modernity pretends to be without alternatives, its “real power,” the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan writes, lies in “its ability to suffocate all utopias […] with its liberalism.” And, if need be, with brute force.
But those who are writing off the Rojava revolution as a thing of the past underestimate the resilience and resistance of the local communities that have built the world’s largest post-capitalist experiment under enormous sacrifices. In one way or another, their movement will continue to fight for democratic self-government, women’s liberation and an ecological society. Their prospects will also depend on the active solidarity of all those around the world who care for these same values.
That is why we call on all feminist, ecological, progressive and revolutionary movements around the world to stand with and mobilize for the people of Rojava. We urge all democratic governments, international institutions and civil society to legally and politically recognise DAANES; to unequivocally condemn the attacks on north-east Syria; to insist on constitutional recognition of Kurdish identity, language and local self-government; to demand concrete protections for civilians and all minorities; and to withhold financial, military, political support to the STG and Turkey as long as those demands are not met. Most immediately, Turkey must be pressured to end its siege on Kobane which threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians who have been without electricity, reliable water, and medicines for more than two weeks.
At a time of rising fascism, misogynist violence, ecological breakdown, neocolonial assaults and unprecedented inequities, defending the Rojava revolution is about more than the future of Syria and of the Kurdish people alone. What is at stake here is whether humanity is able to build and defend viable democratic alternatives to our current civilisational crisis before it is too late. If we can support our friends in Rojava to defend their revolution, collective liberation will be likelier in other parts of the world too. If we fail to stand with them now, history will remember our silence.
David Adler General Coordinator, Progressive International
Lina Alvarez Associate professor, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá
Gail Bradbrook Co-founder, Extinction Rebellion
Debbie Bookchin Journalist & co-founding member, Emergency Committee for Rojava
John Cox Director, Center for Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Studies, Univ. of North Carolina Charlotte
Emek Ergun Associate Professor of Global Studies, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Ana Cecilia Dinerstein, Department of Social and Policy Science, University of Bath
Silvia Federici Professor Emerita, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York
Harry Halpin Researcher, Vrije Universiteit Brussels
John Holloway Professor, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico
Nilüfer Koç International relations spokesperson, Kurdistan National Congress
Ferat Koçak Member of the German Pparliament
Nicholas Mirzoeff Professor of media, culture, and communication, NYU
George Monbiot Journalist & environmental activist
Kumi Naidoo Co-Founding Director,
Riky Rick Foundation for the Promotion of Artivism
Joshua M. Price Professor, Department of Criminology, Toronto Metropolitan University
Vasna Ramasar Associate Professor Human Ecology, Lund University
Katharina Richter Lecturer in Climate Change Politics, University of Bristol, UK
Douglas Rushkoff Author & professor, City University of New York
Tina Shull PhD, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina Charlotte, United States
Marina Sitrin Chair, Department of Sociology, State University of New York Binghamton
V (formerly Eve Ensler) Playwright & activist
David Wengrow Professor, University College London
Martin Winiecki Activist & writer
Slavoj Žižek Professor of philosophy, European Graduate School