20.01.25 – 26.01.25
# NES
#WeAreTishreen action days
To support resistance in Tishreen Dam, the internationalist commune called for days of action on January 25th and 26th. 10 years ago, on these dates, the city of Kobane was liberated from the attacks of ISIS. Today, the attacks of Turkish forces are still ongoing. For more than 2 weeks civilian convoys have been arriving to maintain a vigil in Tishreen dam. The vigil is continually attacked by drones, with 21 civilians killed and over 200 injured. Important representatives of the autonomous administration of North-East Syria who joined the vigil also got injured in those attacks, as well as some internationalists who also went there to support the resistance.
Int. org.s suspend operations in NES
International organizations providing humanitarian help have suspended their programs in northeastern Syria without providing a timeline for the suspension. This follows an executive order signed by the new U.S. President Donald Trump, which temporarily halts all U.S. foreign aid programs for 90 days. Several international organizations operating in northeastern Syria have informed their staff that program implementation will be paused pending a review by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The executive order signed by Trump states that all heads of departments and agencies responsible for U.S. foreign development assistance programs must immediately suspend new commitments and the disbursement of development aid funds.
Realese of Syrian families from al-Hol
66 Syrian families currently in the al-Hol camp will be allowed to return to their home. Al-Hol camp hosts families of ISIS fighters, mostly women and children captured during the operations that brought the islamic caliphate to an end. This is the first time that detainees from Syria in al-Hol camp are allowed to leave the camp. Date for return of these families has not yet been disclosed. Talks about return of other Syrian and Iraqi families detained in the camp are on going. This announcement came together with a call to UNHCR and Red Cross to assist the camp administration to ensure the return of those families, as well as a call for the international community to take responsibility for foreign detainees.
# Syria
HTS moves South and East
The Military Operations forces, linked to the transitional government of HTS, took control of a corridor along the M5 in southern Syria until the city of Daraa and the border with Jordan. This move divided the territory under control of the southern operations room in the Daraa region and the Druze defense forces in Suweyda region. They also sent military forces east of the coast cities, taking control of the oil and gas fields in the region of southern Raqqa. Since the fall of the regime those areas were under control of SDF, that deployed there to prevent ISIS expansion. This transfer of control was coordinated between SDF, HTS and the international coalition, but some media outlets spread false information of clashes between HTS and SDF that SDF denied.
Assad al-Shibani in Davos Forum
The Foreign Minister of Syria’s transitional government, Assad al Shibani, joined the World Economic Forum held yearly in Davos, Switzerland. He met with important political figures, including an interview with Tony Blair and a meeting with Masrour Barzani, PM of the KRG. Shibani called to lift the economical sanctions on Syria. He invited foreign investment to Syria and stated their intentions to privitise state-run companies. Those are clear indicators of their will to apply a neo-liberal economical agenda in exchange for acceptance as legitimate government of Syria. Shibani also called for the SDF to disband, claiming they have no longer justification to exist since his government is promising to protect the rights of kurds and other minorities.
Israel military base in Quneitra
Israel army continue their operations to expand their occupation in southern Syria. Recently they started the construction of military base in Quneitra countryside, southern Syria. In some areas where recently deployed forces of the Military Operations, connected to the transitional government of HTS, videos with both military forces deploying together had been recorded. It is not clear how much this operations are coordinated.
# Analysis
As HTS government consolidates it’s position, asserting their diplomatic influence and expanding their military presence over Syria, their position on the autonomous self-administration starts to be more aggressive. Recent military deployments on the gas and oil fields south of Raqqa were used by some media to calim military advances over SDF, exploiting also ethnic tensions and resentments that may arab nationalists still hold against Kurds. It is not clear how much it was a mistake or disinformation of some media, or how much it was an intentional move to portray the transitional government as strong and decisive against separatism. Assad al-Shibani, FM of the HTS government who recently got his PhD from an Istanbul private university, is calling to disband SDF in the (in)famous World Economic Forum of Davos, while anouncing a full embracement of neoliberal economical agenda for Syria.
Al-Sharaa, ‘de facto’ president of Syria, is also making declarations like “The Kurdish People’s Protection Units alone did not respond to our call to restrict weapons to the authorities”. Those statements dismiss not just the ongoing negotiations with SDF, but also how other armed groups also rejected his calls to reorganize the monopoly of violence under direct control of a centralized state. As SDF makes diplomatic moves to consolidate it’s position and strength in the negotiation table, HTS seems to be more inclined to accelerate tensions towards confrontation, knowing they will have full support of Turkey for any military action against SDF. Turkish state media have a long history of fabricated news, and now already twice they spread false information of alleged car bombs going to Aleppo from SDF areas, indicating their readiness to create excuses to justify attacks on SDF.
Let’s not lie, the situation in NES looks difficult. Still, the resistance in Tishreen is an example of the determination to resist against the invasion, to defend the advances of the revolution. We also remember how 10 years ago, 26th of January of 2015, YPG and YPJ announced the liberation of Kobane from the attacks of ISIS. We should not forget that, because at that time it looked much darker than today. And here we are, the revolution did not just defeat the caliphate, but have been also a key element to the collapse of the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It is also making impossible for Turkey to consolidate it’s imperial aspirations in Syria and in Kurdistan. Revolutions are not the easy way, we know that, but difficulties won’t deter us to pursue our dreams of freedom and liberation.
Revolutionary greetings!