It is often said that there is some good in every misfortune. The attack launched by the Damascus administration via Aleppo against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria since 6 January has led to militarily adverse developments east of the Euphrates, yet it has also brought to light several important realities that can be considered revealing. One of these is the character of the current Damascus administration. One might ask whether it was necessary to wait for such an attack to understand the character of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) administration. Of course not. Yet the latest attacks have further reinforced the monolithic and fascistic character of the existing administration.
More importantly, the nature of the HTS plan set in motion from December 2024 onward, and the actors behind it, have been exposed. In this context, it is appropriate to describe the 4 January Paris agreement as a second 15 February conspiracy. This agreement has shown that the global system of capitalist modernity remains opposed to the existence of a free Kurdish entity and seeks to continue this policy in the period ahead with only partial cosmetic adjustments. This has also laid bare how instrumental and hollow the praise directed at Kurds during the war against ISIS truly was.
There is no doubt that the assessment of the events that have unfolded in Syria over the past month will continue to deepen. In this regard, the fourteen-year experience of North and East Syria will also be examined and debated from multiple angles. Although it encompasses a relatively short period of time, the attempt to put a new theoretical and ideological line into practice in the sense of the Democratic Modernity Paradigm has undoubtedly yielded highly instructive lessons for future revolutionary practice. Bringing these lessons to a sufficient level of objective awareness, with both their positive and negative dimensions, will produce profoundly instructive outcomes.
Following these brief remarks, the focus here, as the title already indicates, is on the impact of the latest developments in Syria on Kurdish society. The most noteworthy development revealed by the recent events has clearly unfolded in this sphere. Based on its historical trajectory, the present reality of the Kurdish question has been laid bare in response to the attacks targeting Kurds in Rojava. The attacks launched by the Damascus administration, beginning in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud (Şêxmeqsûd) and Ashrafiyeh (Eşrefiyê) and directed at the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, where Kurds play a central role, quite literally mobilized Kurds across the four parts of Kurdistan and throughout the world.
Which factors played a role in this response? This is undoubtedly an important question that requires a substantive answer. The victorious struggle waged by this society and administration against ISIS in the recent past has been a significant factor. That struggle introduced the free Kurdish identity, and especially Kurdish women engaged in the freedom struggle, to the world and garnered broad support. Another important factor lies in the injustice inherent in the global framework of attacks directed at the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The fact that Rojava Kurdistan constitutes the smallest part among the regions of Kurdistan has also played a significant role. In a sense akin to protecting a younger sibling, Kurds everywhere rallied to stand with the Kurds of Rojava. One dimension of expressing this resistance and solidarity through the concept of “honor” has been the heroic resistance mounted against ISIS; another dimension has been the determination to safeguard the very existence of Kurdishness in Rojava.
It is not our intention here to enumerate the actions that Kurds across the four parts of Kurdistan and in the diaspora have carried out day and night over the past month by filling streets and squares. These actions have already been covered daily in the press, many of them through live broadcasts. The point we seek to address is, in broad terms, what this mass uprising that has lasted for more than a month signifies and what kinds of responsibilities it has brought to the fore. These actions carry multiple and significant meanings. One can say that Kurds across the four parts of Kurdistan and in the diaspora have demonstrated a powerful spirit, feeling, and consciousness of becoming a nation, living freely, and being governed democratically. Kurds who were fragmented by global capitalism have created their own democratic unity. In this sense, a profound revolution of Kurdish feelings, spirits, and unity has taken place.
The fact that women have taken the lead in these actions and participated in them in an effective manner carries particular significance. This reveals the character of Kurdish liberation unfolding under the leadership of women’s freedom. The most massive and vibrant demonstrations taking place in Southern Kurdistan (Başur), and especially in Sulaymaniyah, are also highly meaningful. Society in Southern Kurdistan has clearly seen that the danger threatening Rojava also directly targets them, and that Kurds are facing serious dangers. The fact that slogans expressing the unity of Kurdistan and the Kurdish people have been most prominent in actions across all areas, above all in the demonstrations in Southern Kurdistan, makes this clear. Those who launched attacks aimed at eliminating the Kurdish administration in Syria were surprised and alarmed when they encountered such a Kurdish stance across all of Kurdistan and around the world and were ultimately compelled to accept compromise because of this.
A similar sense of shock has in fact been experienced, and continues to be experienced, by Kurds themselves, as well as by Kurdish intellectuals and politicians. For the past month, intellectuals and politicians have been trying to grasp this situation and to overcome the surprise they are experiencing. Kurdish society, led by women and youth, has gone beyond the existing stance of intellectuals and politicians. By manifesting democratic Kurdish unity in practice and through daily action, society has clearly placed the task of democratic unity before Kurdish intellectuals and politicians. This is the message Kurdish society is conveying through action, and no intellectual or politician can ignore it. The failure of those who attempt to do so is evident.
How should this situation be explained? Quite clearly, those in positions as intellectuals and politicians are lagging the masses. They are, in many cases, detached from society, superficial in their engagement, individualistic, and to some extent driven by self-interest. They are not sufficiently aware of the kinds of transformations and developments that the struggle waged by society under the leadership of Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has brought about. By contrast, Kurdish society, above all women and youth, has undergone a genuine process of liberation and democratization, giving rise to a powerful consciousness and will. More importantly, drawing on its historical intuition, society clearly sees the danger confronting Kurdish existence and knows very well that the success of the struggle to avert this danger depends on unity. In this sense, society has moved ahead of existing politics.
Democratic Kurdish unity has now become a task that can no longer be postponed. Neither intellectuals nor politicians can evade this responsibility. The prospects for success of a century-long struggle for existence and freedom on this basis are clear for all to see. The twenty-seventh anniversary of the 15 February international conspiracy is being marked this year, and it is widely known that the 15 February conspiracy was made possible by the lack of unity within Kurdish politics. It is also well known that Abdullah Öcalan has been held for twenty-seven years under the Imralı system of torture and annihilation on this basis, and that the struggle against the conspiracy has failed to yield the desired results for this reason. If new conspiratorial attacks are being carried out against Kurds today, and if Kurds in Rojava are facing the current situation, the absence of democratic Kurdish unity plays a significant role in all of this.
Democratic Kurdish unity has thus assumed this level of importance today. It represents a source of strength capable of preventing all forms of danger and repelling attacks. Such unity cannot be built through ordinary or superficial approaches, because what is required is not just any unity, but democratic unity. This is the most fundamental task that history has placed before all democratic Kurdish forces, intellectuals, and politicians. Abdullah Öcalan’s call has always been grounded in this perspective. The coming period is expected to give rise to such historic developments, and there is a belief that goods can emerge even from the harm inflicted by the Damascus administration. While condemning the 15 February international conspiracy, the call is also made to all Kurds and their friends to further intensify the struggle for Abdullah Öcalan’s physical freedom.
Source: Yeni Özgür Politika
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